By Andrew Lord

21 May 2022

RB Leipzig have won the German Cup after beating SC Freiburg 4-2 on penalties, securing the first trophy in the club’s short history.

Freiburg had taken the lead through Maximilian Eggestein after 19 minutes. The ball hit the hand of Freiburg striker Roland Sallai in the run up to the goal, but despite protests from Leipzig players, neither referee Sascha Stegemann nor VAR judged the incident to be deliberate and the goal stood.

After 59 minutes, RB Leipzig suffered a further setback when they were reduced to ten men after Marcel Halstenberg was shown a straight red card following a professional foul on Lucas Höler. RB Leipzig trainer Domenico Tedesco brought on Dominik Szoboszlai, Nordi Mukiele and Dani Olmo. The changes helped bring about Christopher Nkunku’s equaliser after 69 minutes.

In extra time, Freiburg hit the woodwork three times, but the game ended level after 120 minutes.

RB Leipzig held their nerve in the penalty shoot-out, scoring all four of their spot kicks, while Christian Günter put his penalty over the bar and Ermedin Demirović’s effort bounced back off the bar to give the Red Bulls their first major title in the history of the club.

After the game, RB Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff said to German TV channel ARD “This is the first title in our rather short club history. We have to reflect on what we have achieved in the last 13 years and over six years in the Bundesliga. We played in front of a fantastic crowd. We have to let that sink in, it’s great.”

Freiburg captain Günter was inconsolable after the game. “We didn’t want to play balls into the dangerous areas as we knew Leipzig were waiting for counterattacks. Then we conceded a goal, that was extremely unlucky.”

“We should have won it in the 120 minutes. We had the opportunity, but we needed to be more emphatic. When you have something to lose so many thoughts go through your head, you don’t want to risk anything. In hindsight that was an error.”

But Günter took full responsibility for the defeat: ‘I can’t say much because my penalty was awful and that’s why we lost. That really hurts. This evening is going to be even more difficult. I hope I can somehow forget about it after two or three beers.”

Domenico Tedesco, trainer of RB Leipzig, was full of praise for his side: “We played really well, especially in the second half with ten men. I can only praise the players for this amazing performance. The team was fully intact, I just changed a few things.”

Freiburg trainer Christian Streich told reporters “We’ve had an amazing season and we were great in the first half. When we were one-nil up and they were down to ten men, we became a bit afraid, we played balls too long. But we will be playing in the Europa League next season. The fans are thankful and so they should be, the team have achieved something unbelievable.”

Drama after the penalty shoot-out

And there was drama immediately after the penalty shoot-out when a stadium employee collapsed in front of the Leipzig bench and had to be resuscitated via cardiac massage and a defibrillator. Paramedics rushed to the scene and placed covers around the patient. The stadium announcer told fans that there was a medical emergency and the award ceremony would be delayed. The crowd of 74,475 became silent, creating an eerie atmosphere in the Olympic Stadium. After 20 minutes of treatment, the patient was in a stable condition and taken to hospital in an ambulance. The crowd applauded and the trophy was presented to the victorious Leipzig team.

It had already been decided before the final that fourth-placed RB Leipzig would play in next season’s Champions League, while Freiburg won a place in the Europa League after finishing sixth in the table.

It was RB Leipzig’s third appearance in the German Cup in four years and the Saxony club were desperate to make up for the Europa League semi-final defeat against Glasgow Rangers.

Freiburg trainer Christian Streich had played down expectations before the game: “If we win the cup, it would be great. But if we don’t, it won’t be the end of the world.”

In his final press conference before the final, RB Leipzig trainer Domenico Tedesco had praised Freiburg and stated the club was no longer a small outfit, but instead had become a big club in Germany.

Anti-Leipzig sentiment

In the run up to the final, VfL Osnabrück and VfL Bochum had both announced public support for Freiburg. The third division club VfL Osnabrück had gone as far as publishing an extraordinary open letter in which they wrote that RB Leipzig stands for an idea of football which is contrary to the convictions of many people. SC Freiburg had also refused to give permission for RB Leipzig to use the club logo on a scarf featuring both teams.

And the bad blood between the clubs spilled over during the match. RB Leipzig trainer Tedesco was still angry after the game about an incident between both benches following Halstenberg’s red card. A member of the Freiburg trainer team had waved his clenched fist at the RB Leipzig bench and shouted. Tedesco said: “You can be happy about a red card, but I have a problem with the hate shown towards me. Although I did remain calm.”

The situation escalated as Leipzig emerged triumphant following the penalty shoot-out. The 36-year-old trainer said: “After the game, I didn’t celebrate. Instead I looked for Christian Streich so I could shake his hand. Then the same person came towards me and said I should clear off and go and celebrate.” According to Sport Bild, he had been told to “piss off.”

Tedesco responded by kissing his own hand and saying thank you. The Freiburg bench reacted by jumping up and insulting the RB Leipzig trainer.

Tedesco called the incident a “shame”, clearly there is no love lost between the two clubs.

But in the end, RB Leipzig are taking the German Cup, the first trophy in the short history of the club, back to Saxony.

© Andrew Lord 2022