As of: February 3, 2024, 7:38 p.m
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Split
Freiburg's Maximilian Eggestein reacts in the game.
© Harry Langer/dpa
VfB takes a lot of momentum from the victory in the state duel in Freiburg into the cup clash against Leverkusen.
Deniz Undav, Maximilian Mittelstädt and an injured defender are the focus.
Freiburg - Maximilian Mittelstädt stood in the cabin corridor with his left foot bandaged and his chest proudly swollen.
“We have a lot of self-confidence now,” said the VfB Stuttgart defender.
“I think Leverkusen won’t be happy that we’re coming now either.” The 26-year-old said he expects a “top-level game” in the DFB Cup quarter-finals at Bayer on Tuesday.
VfB, who have overcome their low at the beginning of the year, may be the first team that can defeat the Werkself this season.
The 3:1 (2:1) in the state duel at SC Freiburg should definitely give the Swabians a further boost.
“We are overjoyed,” said Mittelstädt, who played a central role in the sometimes heated game in Breisgau.
Freiburg's Merlin Röhl was shown a red card after a foul on the Stuttgart left-back (18th minute).
“You can give it like that,” said SC coach Christian Streich.
Mittelstädt later scored the final score with a lob (74').
It was an “outstanding individual action” and an “unbelievable conclusion,” said VfB coach Sebastian Hoeneß.
Goal scorer Deniz Undav also turned up the heat once again, scoring the 1-0 for Stuttgart himself (3rd) and setting up both the 2-0 by Chris Führich (7th) and the third guest goal by Mittelstädt.
The striker has now scored 13 times in the first 17 Bundesliga games of his career.
The last German player to achieve this was Horst Hrubesch.
In 1975/76 this even stood at 14 goals after 17 games.
Things are going again at VfB and Undav, who even scored a hat-trick in the 5-2 win against RB Leipzig last week - the two bankruptcies in the first two competitive games of 2024 have been forgotten.
The victory in Freiburg made him “very, very proud,” said Hoeneß.
At least the coach and the sports director of Stuttgart, who further consolidated their place in the Champions League in the Bundesliga, did not announce any new goals.
“We have always talked about the fact that we want to have early planning security and have a worry-free season,” explained Hoeneß.
“We don’t think we can plan for the first league,” he added, referring to VfB’s already 40 points.
Captain Waldemar Anton expressed that they would like to play internationally if possible.
Sports director Fabian Wohlgemuth warned of a gradually more likely European Cup entry but also of possible setbacks due to negative series or injuries.
One of them had already hit Stuttgart hard during the week.
“Something else happened to the team” due to defender Dan-Axal Zagadou’s early exit from the season, explained Wohlgemuth.
The Swabians also wanted to win for the Frenchman.
During the warm-up they wore jackets with the number and nickname of the 24-year-old, who had a serious right knee injury, and after Undav's goal they held up Zagadou's jersey.
This victory is “for Daxo,” emphasized Wohlgemuth.
Stuttgart's success was deserved.
However, they were unable to convince in the first phase after Freiburg's sending off.
Instead of the preliminary decision, Lukas Kübler scored the next goal in a disjointed game (45th + 11th).
Even in the second round, the SC defended itself bravely when they were outnumbered before Mittelstädt put the lid on it.
“Let's move on, everything's fine,” said the defensive player when asked about his injured foot.
In a certain way, that applied to the overall mood among the Swabians, who were so strong this season.
dpa