Four yellow cards were dished out in a particularly combative five-minute period early on, in which Maximilian Eggestein strongly appealed for a penalty after going down under challenge from Angelo Stiller.
Those protests were swiftly waved away, yet they were quickly forgotten by the away fans, who were soon celebrating a breakthrough when Matthias Ginter headed a partially-cleared corner into the six-yard box, where Eggestein pounced to prod past Alexander Nübel.
Stuttgart went into HT without so much as a shot on target, but it wasn’t for the want of trying. Just before the break, Ermedin Demirović sent a bouncing ball in the box well over the bar.
The forward then failed to make solid contact with his attempted flick, shortly before Jamie Leweling bent a low effort narrowly wide, and Deniz Undav saw a close-range volley blocked in first-half stoppage time.
Freiburg had lost their previous three H2H trips to Stuttgart by an aggregate score of 10-0, but the away side found themselves 45 minutes from just a second-ever DFB-Pokal final as the second period got underway.
Die Schwaben searched for a leveller, as Chris Führich guided wide when unmarked at the back post, while Florian Müller made his first save of the game to claw a loose ball away from the goalline, moments before Stiller’s arrowed strike got the better of him, only to be ruled out for an offside in the build-up.
The drama intensified when Yuito Suzuki was denied by a last-stitch block, resulting in a counter-attack that ended with Bilal El Khannouss laying off Undav, who levelled the tie with a precise first-time finish.
Armed with the momentum, the hosts almost took the lead when Undav’s deflected low shot was kept out by a combination of Müller and the post.
And Müller had to be alert in stoppage time to push away Führich’s curling strike before Undav tested him once more with a rifled effort, ultimately taking the contest to ET for just the second time in Freiburg’s last 13 games in this competition.
Lucas Höler had the ball in the back of the net soon after the restart, only to be denied by the referee’s whistle that had sounded moments earlier for a foul.
At the other end, Führich’s fierce first-time shot cannoned off the woodwork, before Müller somehow kept out El Khannouss after a neat one-two had afforded the substitute a presentable opening.
Stuttgart were relentless in their pursuit of a winner, and with penalties looming, Tiago Tomás broke Freiburg hearts with a well-timed run and flick to guide in El Khannouss’ low cross.
The result marks Stuttgart’s 11th successive win in this competition, breaking a club record, and their reward will be a meeting with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
As for Freiburg, the defeated semi-finalists won’t have a chance to avenge their 2022 final defeat, but they still have a shot at a first-ever major trophy, with a semi-final in the UEFA Europa League still to come.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Deniz Undav (VfB Stuttgart)