VfB Stuttgart thrashed SC Freiburg 4–0 in the Neckarstadion to conclude the busy three-game-week, rotating their squad comfortably ahead of an important Champions League match on Tuesday. What a way to start the new year!
Christian Günter thought he was being clever. As Freiburg’s captain, he won the coin toss and decided that VfB would play toward the Cannstatter Kurve in the first half, leaving Freiburg to face it in the second. Perhaps he still remembered how Jacob Bruun Larsen and Nick Woltemade had electrified the home end during the second half on Wednesday evening and hoped to avoid a similar scenario on Saturday afternoon. However, the players with the Red Stripe were unfazed, netting four goals against our former goalkeeper Flo Müller in the first half—one of which was controversially disallowed.
The fact that VfB overcame even a lost coin toss and dominated Freiburg for 90 minutes, a team they lost to in the first half of the season, brings back memories of last season. This time, however, it wasn’t just one striker leading the charge for the rout. Instead, Ermedin Demirović, Nick Woltemade, and Deniz Undav all found the back of the net. Additionally, VfB suddenly capitalized on set-pieces, with Anthony Rouault positioning his head perfectly to score his first Bundesliga goal. After a challenging start to the year and a strong performance against Leipzig, the team seems fully “in the flow” by the end of this first intense week of matches.
Rotation to Success
And this comes despite another crucial match looming on Tuesday, prompting Sebastian Hoeneß to rotate his squad for load management. This time, Jeff Chabot sat out, while Ramon Hendriks—who isn’t registered for international play—was once again preferred over Maxi Mittelstädt. It made no difference, as Ameen Al-Dakhil in just his second start and Anthony Rouault limited Freiburg to only a handful of attempts, none of which required Alex Nübel to make a save. It marked his second clean sheet in a week. Nick Woltemade, also not registered for the Champions League, played again and scored, while Demirović and Undav shared duties to conserve energy for Bratislava.
VfB was completely dominant over SC Freiburg, barring a few moments, and it increasingly evokes not just last season but also the golden 2000s. Although this resurgence has only been ongoing for about a year and a half, it’s hard to imagine VfB stopping their upward trajectory now, even with their rise to a Champions League spot. They likely won’t challenge for the runner-up position again, but the team now seems mentally and physically capable of rotating past direct rivals for European spots without breaking a sweat.
Braking Without Stalling
Sebastian Hoeneß would do well to apply the brakes on the growing euphoria without disrupting the team’s flow. The advantage of back-to-back fixtures is that the team doesn’t have time to rest on its laurels but can carry the momentum of success into the next match. Simultaneously, the squad now offers more options off the bench compared to the first half of the season, even in the Champions League. Let’s hope this winning streak, just like last season, continues for a long time.
Picture: © Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images