Tiago Tomas was Stuttgart's hero in extra-time as his 119th-minute winner helped Sebastian Hoeness' side reach back-to-back DFB-Pokal finals following a 2-1 win over Freiburg.

Tomas came off the bench to brilliantly flick home the decisive goal, teeing up a meeting with 20-time winners Bayern Munich in the showpiece match on May 23. 

Freiburg started brightly as Maximilian Eggestein forced Alexander Nubel into a smart stop in the 17th minute, but the midfielder was not to be denied the game's opening goal. 

After Angelo Stiller's wayward backpass gifted Freiburg a corner, the visitors made them pay from the set-piece, with Vincenzo Grifo's teasing delivery met by the head of Matthias Ginter before Eggestein stuck out a foot to help the ball home.  

Jamie Leweling fired wide and Deniz Undav saw his goal-bound shot blocked by Igor Matanovic, with Stuttgart's pressure continuing into the second half, only for Stiller to see his prodded attempt saved on the line by Florian Muller. 

Stiller thought he had levelled when his 60th-minute strike nestled into the bottom-right corner, but the goal was ruled out for an offside against Ermedin Demirovic in the build-up. 

However, Stuttgart were not to be denied 10 minutes later as they finally drew level through Undav, who placed a side-footed shot past Muller after being slipped into the box by substitute Bilal El Khannouss. 

Undav almost won the tie with the last kick of normal time but fired straight at Muller from close range, and Stuttgart came close twice in the first half of extra-time, only to see Chris Fuhrich hit the post and El Khannouss thwarted by the Freiburg goalkeeper. 

But with penalties looming, Stuttgart snatched it at the death when Tomas instinctively guided Badredine Bouanani's cross with a sublime backheel to seal their progression. 

Data Debrief: Undav helps free-scoring Stuttgart go back-to-back

Not since RB Leipzig in 2021-22 and 2022-23 has a team won the DFB-Pokal in consecutive seasons, but Stuttgart are daring to dream now. And they will fancy their chances against Bayern because of their clinical attackers. 

Stuttgart have now scored in each of their last 20 DFB-Pokal matches, an ongoing club record. Since the start of last season, Hoeness' men have netted 31 goals in 11 cup matches, more than any other team in the competition. 

And their front line has been led by Undav, with his goal helping him record his 37th goal involvement (24 goals, 13 assists) this term. Since detailed data collection began, only Mario Gomez in the 2008-09 season (41) has managed more in a single campaign for Stuttgart. 

Stuttgart have also now won their last seven cup games that have gone into extra-time, though they should have wrapped things up much sooner. They registered an expected goals (xG) total of 4.24 from their 29 shots compared to Freiburg's 2.45 from their 18 attempts.