Vincenzo Grifo scored one penalty and missed another as Freiburg overcame Darmstadt. - © IMAGO/Grant Hubbs

2. Bundesliga, bundesliga

Freiburg ease past 10-man Darmstadt and into DFB Cup quarter-finals

02.12.2025

Vincenzo Grifo scored one and made another as Freiburg beat 10-man Darmstadt to seal their place in the next round of the DFB Cup.

Freiburg 2-0 Darmstadt
Goals: 1-0 Grifo (pen. 42'), 2-0 Höler 69'
Sent off: Maglica 88'

The home side enjoyed the better start, albeit without creating any dangerous chances until just before the half-time interval, when Johan Manzambi was brought down inside the penalty area. Grifo was clinical from the spot, smashing high into the net to give Julian Schuster's side a half-time lead.

Darmstadt pushed for an equaliser in the second half but it was Freiburg who scored again, Lucas Höler dinking in from Grifo's fine through-ball. Grifo missed a late penalty and Maximilian Eggestein had a goal disallowed as the Black Forest club ended up going through comfortably.

As it happened!

2 - 0

(1 - 0)

Freiburg

FINAL

Darmstadt

DFB Pokal
Round of 16 Round of 16 Europa-Park Stadion

Full time: Freiburg 2-0 Darmstadt

In the end it’s a comfortable victory for Freiburg, who seal their place in the quarter-finals. Darmstadt never gave up and could have come back in the second half if one of the quickfire hat-trick of chances for Maglica had gone in, but ultimately they just lacked that bit of quality in the final third.

Full-time

90'

+ 3

Substitution

Igor Matanović

Vincenzo Grifo

90'

+ 3

Substitution

Derry Scherhant

Lucas Höler

90'

Substitution

Paul Will

Merveille Papela

89'

Substitution

Fynn-Luca Lakenmacher

Hiroki Akiyama

88'

Second yellow card

Matej Maglica

87'

Disallowed goal

Eggestein has the ball in the net following a blistering counter but it won't count as Adamu was offside in the build-up.

85'

Substitution

Bartosz Białek

Luca Marseiler

85'

Substitution

Junior Adamu

Johan Manzambi

84'

Penalty missed!

Following a VAR review of the incident involving Treu, the referee overturns his initial decision and awards a penalty. Grifo takes it again, but smacks his effort off the bar!

83'

Penalty!

81'

Another penalty shout

Freiburg sprint forward on the counter, Grifo spreading the play from right to left for Treu, who has plenty of space to dart into. He skips past one defender in the box and goes to ground as he tries to take on another, but the referee waves for play to continue.

78'

And again!

Maglica must be sick of the sight of Müller. That's the centre-back's third effort on goal in the space of three minutes, this time hammering a left-footed, first-time effort at goal from just outside the box. Müller dives low to his left to keep it out though.

77'

Müller again

From the resultant corner, it's almost a carbon copy: Maglica wins a header again, but Müller saves again!

76'

Darmstadt almost get one back!

Maglica leaps highest at the back post to connect with a deep corner but Müller produces a fingertip save to keep it out.

72'

More open

Darmstadt have to throw caution to the wind now if they want to get back into this game. There are already more gaps appearing in midfield as they try to bridge the gap between committing players forward and having enough cover at the back.

Freiburg go 2-0 up!

With Darmstadt still sorting themselves out following their double substitution, Freiburg win the ball in the centre circle. Grifo drives forward and with the defence backing away, he's got time and space to slide a pass through to Höler, who beats the offside trap and dink an exquisite finish over Schuhen and into the net!

69'

Lucas Höler

GOAL!

2:0

68'

Substitution

Sergio López

Matthias Bader

68'

Substitution

Fabian Holland

Marco Richter

67'

Chance for Ginter

Grifo swings a teasing free-kick into the box from the right. It seems to catch Ginter off guard though, and he can't sort his feet out in time to attempt a shot. Darmstadt clear.

65'

Substitution

Patrick Osterhage

Yuito Suzuki

65'

Substitution

Philipp Treu

Niklas Beste

61'

Changes inbound

Freiburg appear to be readying Osterhage and Treu to come on. They're still in control but do need a second goal to kill things off.

58'

Neat interplay

Some nice one and two-touch football from Beste and Manzambi ends with the former slipping a pass through to Höler. It's an eye-catching move but Höler was offside.

53'

Grifo goes close

The Freiburg playmaker enters the Darmstadt penalty area on the left, weighs up his options and decides to curl a shot towards the far corner. It's going in, but Schuhen flies to his left to make a fine save.

46'

Peeeep

And we're off again, no changes from either side at the break.

Kick-off!

Half-time: Freiburg 1-0 Darmstadt

The hosts enjoyed the brighter start but initially struggled to create any clear-cut openings. That gave Darmstadt confidence to come out of their shell and they could have taken the lead via Corredor’s rasping shot midway through the half. However, it’s Freiburg who lead at the break thanks to Grifo’s penalty just before the interval.

Half-time

43'

Freiburg lead!

Just moments after Manzambi had a penalty shout waved away, the Swiss midfielder is awarded a spot-kick after being brought down by a clumsy lunge by Pfeiffer. Grifo steps up and smashes an unstoppable shot into high to the goalkeeper's right.

42'

Vincenzo Grifo

GOAL!

1:0

Penalty

41'

Penalty!

40'

Schuhen to the rescue

Freiburg's best chance of the half falls to Manzambi inside the six-yard box, but Schuhen charges off his line to make a brilliant block.

36'

Penalty appeal

Manzambi goes down in the box as Klefisch blocks his run into the box. He wants a penalty but the referee waves for play to continue.

33'

No way through

Aside from that opening for Beste just over 10 minutes ago, Freiburg have struggled to create any truly threatening chances against a Darmstadt side in a 5-4-1 formation against the ball.

30'

Lidberg has a go

The Darmstadt striker cuts in from the left and drills a powerful shot towards the bottom corner from just outside the penalty area. Müller watches it all the way though and gets down well to make the save.

27'

What a save!

Darmstadt midfielder Corredor does brilliantly to control a cross from the lef ton his chest and smash a volley goalwards. It looks to be arrowing into the net but Müller dives to his right to tip it over the bar.

Simply the Beste

The Freiburg winger has been making inroads down the right for Freiburg.

22'

Beste too selfless

Beste wins the ball on the right and scurries into space. He's well inside the penalty area and could have a shot on goal but instead tries to square it to the unmarked Grifo in the middle. His pass is intercepted though and the opportunity is gone.

19'

Richter goes for the spectacular

The visitors get forward well on the counter, culminating in a header from the left being directed towards Richter, lurking near the penalty spot. Under pressure from Ginter and with his back to goal, he attempts an overhead kick but misses the ball completely.

17'

Foul throw

A bit of a collector's item there as Manzambi's attempt at a long throw is called back.

Günter lively

The left-back (pictured, r.), restored to the starting line-up today, has been getting forward well so far.

12'

Grifo!

Darmstadt struggle to clear their lines after a high ball into the box. It eventually falls kindly for Grifo, rushing into the box, but his side-footed effort on the volley is blocked by a defender.

Manzambi has a go

The Freiburg midfielder unleashes a shot from just outside the Darmstadt box. He catches it well and the trajectory appears to be heading towards goal, but it hits teammate Höler and bounces harmlessy away.

Nice move

Günter plays a quick one-two on the left and scampers into space. His attempted cross is blocked for a corner, which Grifo overhits.

Freiburg on top

The home side have immediately seized control and are stroking the ball around confidently. Manzambi has been particularly lively, but no goalmouth action to speak of yet.

And we're off!

Darmstadt get the ball rolling in the Black Forest!

Kick-off!

Warm-ups complete

Vincenzo Grifo has been Freiburg's main man in recent years. Will he do the business again this evening?

More on those teams

Freiburg make two changes from their win over Mainz, with Günter and Rosenfelder coming in for Lienhart and Treu. For Darmstadt, Hornby, López, Nürnberger and Vukotić are replaced by Bader, Maglica, Papela and Richter.

Freiburg starting line-up

Müller - Kübler, Ginter, Rosenfelder, Günter (c) - Eggestein, Manzambi - Beste, Suzuki, Grifo - Höler

Freiburg subs

Adamu, Atubolu, Höfler, Jung, Matanović, Ogbus, Osterhage, Scherhant, Treu

Darmstadt starting line-up

Schuhen - Bader, Pfeiffer, Maglica, Klefisch - Papela, Akiyama - Corredor, Richter, Marseiler - Lidberg

Darmstadt subs

Białek, Brunst, Furukawa, Holland, Klassen, Lakenmacher, López, Vukotić, Will

Freiburg pip previous encounters

In the 32 previous meetings between these two, Freiburg have won 12 while Darmstadt have won 11. The most recent DFB Cup meeting between these sides takes us back to 2002, when the Lilies beat the Breisgau club 6-4 on penalties in the second round.

Julian Schuster on facing Darmstadt

"We're not thinking about being favourites. It'll be important for us not to get carried away. Of course, you don't enter the cup just to reach the quarter-finals. We have enough lads in the squad who have already played in the final in Berlin, but it would be foolish to think three rounds ahead."

Florian Kohfeldt on facing Freiburg

"We need to be bold and pick the right moments to attack them. We have a blueprint from last season's cup tie at Werder Bremen, where we almost managed to get the win. We're also more solid than we were last year, so we fancy our chances - even though we're clearly not favourites."

Early Darmstadt team news

Head coach Florian Kohfeldt has confirmed that Fraser Hornby will miss Wednesday's tie with a muscle problem, with Marco Richter, Yosuke Furukawa or Luca Marseiler set to deputise for the 26-year-old. Other than that, Kohfeldt is expected to have a full squad to choose from.

Early Freiburg team news

Daniel-Kofi Kyereh remains sidelined with a knee injury, while Eren Dinkçi and Jordy Makengo have both been struggling with muscle issues. It remains to be seen whether either Dinkçi or Makengo will recover in time to face Darmstadt.

2:03

Watch: Darmstadt 0-1 Freiburg - previous meeting

Here are the highlights from Freiburg's 1-0 win when the two sides last met.

Head-to-head

These two have a pretty even record against each other, with their 32 meetings in all competitions resulting in 12 Freiburg wins, 11 Darmstadt victories and nine draws. Their two previous DFB Cup games have both been won by Darmstadt; 6-4 on penalties in the 2001/02 second round and 3-0 in the first round of 1984/85. Freiburg did win the last meeting 1-0, which came in the top flight in April 2024.

2:03

Watch: Freiburg 4-0 Mainz - highlights

Freiburg, meanwhile, were on the move at the weekend, courtesy of a handsome 4-0 win over Mainz. They're now eighth as a result and within six points of the European places.

2:14

Watch: Elversberg 0-0 Darmstadt - highlights

Darmstadt head to Freiburg on the back of a goalless draw at Elversberg on Sunday. A win for the visitors would have put Darmstadt second in the table.

Freiburg - the story so far

Freiburg also faced fourth-tier opposition in the first round of the cup. The Bundesliga side travelled to Sportfreunde Lotte on the opening day and won 2-0. In the second round, Julian Schuster's side beat Fortuna Düsseldorf 3-1 away from home thanks to goals from Igor Matanović, Vincenzo Grifo and Derry Scherhant.

Darmstadt - the story so far

In the first round, Darmstadt overcame fourth-tier VfB Lübeck 2-1 thanks to goals from Matej Maglica and Fraser Hornby. They then pulled off one of the results of the second round as they thrashed fellow Bundesliga 2 promotion-chasers Schalke 4-0 at home.

Welcome!

Welcome and thank you for joining us for build-up and live coverage of the DFB Cup Round of 16 match between SC Freiburg and Darmstadt. The game is scheduled to kick off at 6:00 p.m. CET on Wednesday.