VfB Stuttgart's women's team lost 0-3 to SC Freiburg in a winter test match. The game showed both problems and progress for the Stuttgart side.
VfB Stuttgart's women's team played their first winter test match against SC Freiburg, a long-standing club in the women's Bundesliga. The friendly kicked off at 14:00 and gave Stuttgart a chance to measure themselves against higher-league opposition.
SC Freiburg, currently in sixth place in the women's Bundesliga, took control early and set a fast pace. Stuttgart tried to stay compact in defense and look for counter-attacks, but Freiburg often kept the ball and pushed the game into Stuttgart's half.
Freiburg created the first clear chances and quickly put pressure on the Stuttgart back line. Stuttgart's players focused on closing spaces and blocking passes, but they could not keep Freiburg away from goal for long.
After only ten minutes, Leela Egli scored the opening goal for Freiburg to make it 1-0. Stuttgart then grew more bold in attack. Around the 30-minute mark, Fabienne Dongus tried a powerful long-range shot. Just before the break, Maxi Rall came very close to equalising, but the ball stayed out.
Goalkeeper Eve Boettcher was one of the key players for VfB Stuttgart in the first half. She made several strong saves and helped keep her team in the game. Thanks to her stops and committed defending, the score remained 0-1 at halftime.
For the second half, head coach Heiko Gerber changed eight players in the Stuttgart team. The goal was to give more squad members minutes on the pitch and to bring fresh energy into the match.
With the new lineup, Stuttgart had more of the ball and tried to build attacks from the back. However, their passing was often imprecise, and many moves broke down before they could create real danger in front of Freiburg's goal.
SC Freiburg made good use of these errors. In the 56th minute, Nia Szenk finished another attack to make it 2-0. Stuttgart kept fighting but could not find a way back into the match. In the 87th minute, Ingibjörg scored Freiburg's third goal, sealing the 3-0 final score.
After the final whistle, VfB Stuttgart head coach Heiko Gerber gave a realistic view of the result. He accepted the 0-3 defeat but also pointed out the positive aspects of the performance.
Gerber said the loss was fair, even if the difference in goals might have been a bit high. He stressed that Stuttgart were able to keep up for long spells against a Bundesliga team that has been part of the league for many years. He highlighted the many ball recoveries and the hard work without the ball as good signs.
At the same time, Gerber spoke clearly about the problems in Stuttgart's play. He noted that there were too many inaccurate passes and that these mistakes stopped the team from creating more chances. He added that the team will continue to work on these points in training and that he is not unhappy with the overall performance.
In the first half, VfB Stuttgart started with goalkeeper Eve Boettcher and a back line including players such as Hofmann, Müller, and Rall. This group focused on defensive stability and quick transitions when they won the ball.
For the second half, Gerber rotated heavily and brought in a new set of players to gain match practice. The second-half lineup featured Redzepi, Glaser, Beuschlein, and others. The large number of changes also made it harder to keep a steady rhythm, but it allowed the coaching staff to see many players in action against strong opposition.
