DFB Pokal Final: Freiburg vs RB Leipzig

Freiburg meets RB Leipzig in the DFB Pokal Final in the Olympiastadion Berlin this Saturday, in a game that has vast importance to both teams. This unlikely final match up will make history with either winner, as the DFB Pokal will be either club’s first-ever piece of silverware.

RB Leipzig finished the Bundesliga in fourth place, and the last Champions League group stage slot, 19 points adrift from league winners Bayern Munich. However, the final is set to be a tight game with Freiburg finishing sixth, the last Europa League place, and only three points behind Leipzig.

Leipzig will be eager to better their runners-up position from last season's DFB Pokal, where they lost 4 - 1 to Borussia Dortmund in the final.

Leipzig travelled to Bundesliga 2 club SV Sandhausen for the first round of the DFB Pokal. Jesse Marsch’s was the manager back then as they thrashed Sandhausen 4 - 0, with goals from Willi Orban, Amadou Haidara, Christopher Nkunku and Dominik Szoboszlai. Overall an easy tie to start Leipzig’s DFB Pokal journey this season.

The second round match-up with SV Babelsberg was a considerably closer tie. Despite Babelsberg playing their football in the Regionalliga Nordost, the fourth tier of German football, Leipzig were only able to score once. Midfielder Szoboszlai was on the score sheet again, his first-half goal securing Leipzig’s place in the Round of 16.

The Round of 16 saw Leipzig welcome Hansa Rostock to the Red Bull Arena. The Bundesliga 2 team was no match for The Red Bulls, who breezed past 2 - 0. Yussuf Poulsen opened the scoring with Dani Olmo scoring the second.

The quarter-finals saw Leipzig take on Hannover 96. The third Bundesliga 2 team Leipzig have faced on their cup run were also no bother for Tedesco’s team. The Red Bulls ran riot, winning 4 - 0 with two goals from Nkuku, and a goal each for Konrad Laimer and Andre Silva.

RB Leipzig met their first Bundesliga opponents in the semi-final. Union Berlin put up a fight, but The Red Bulls once again prevailed with a marginal 2 - 1 win. Leipzig fought back from 1 - 0 down, with an Andre Silva penalty and an added-time winner from Emil Forsberg helping Leipzig reach their first consecutive DFB Pokal final appearance.

Freiburg started their DFB Pokal journey with a trip to Wurzburger Kickers. The Red Shorts, who play their football in Liga 3, the third tier of German football, fell to a 1 - 0 defeat at the hands of Freiburg. The single goal was scored by midfielder Jonathon Schmid.

The second round was much closer than Freiburg would’ve wanted it to be. The clash with VfL Osnabruck, another Liga 3 team, went all the way to penalties. Vincenzo Grifo opened the scoring for Freiburg, before Lukas Gugganig and Sebastian Klaas put Osnabruck in front. A Keven Schlotterbeck goal in the last minute of extra time kept Freiburg in the tie. Despite the tight game, Freiburg progressed 3 - 2 on penalties.

The Round of 16 was much more comfortable for Freiburg, who travelled to fellow Bundesliga club Hoffenheim. Though finally playing a club from the top tier, this was the highest-scoring match-up so far for Freiburg. Grifo scored twice, along with a goal from Kevin Schade and Ermedin Demirovic in the 4 - 1 thrashing.

The quarter-finals saw Freiburg return to extra time again. The Bundesliga match-up, this time with VfL Bochum, was much more balanced. The game finished 1 - 1 in normal time, a goal from Freiburg’s Niels Peterson and Bochum’s Sebastian Polter. Like their clash with Osnabruck, Freiburg once again scored in the last minute of extra time, this time Roland Sallai sent Freiburg to the semis.

The semi-finals saw Freiburg handed a clash with Bundesliga 2 club, Hamburg. Compared to their last outing in the DFB Pokal, this tie was much more controlled for Freiburg. First-half goals from Peterson, Nicolas Hofler and Grifo were enough for Freiburg to cruise to a 3 -1 win and a place in the DFB Pokal Final.

RB Leipzig come into the Final with two wins, a draw and two losses in their last five Bundesliga games, including a shock final day 1 - 1 draw with relegated Arminia Bielefeld.

Freiburg similarly also have two wins, a draw and two losses in their last five games. Those two losses, however, a 4 - 1 defeat to Union Berlin and a 2 - 1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen came in the last two games before the final.

Both meetings between RB Leipzig and Freiburg in the Bundesliga ended in 1 -1 draws, so the final clash is likely to have under 2.5 Goals. However, a stand-out player in the Bundesliga this season and RB Leipzig’s DFB Pokal top scorer, Christopher Nkuku could be likely to score.