Having celebrated the 3. Liga title just seven days ago, an estimated third of the population of Bielefeld travelled to Berlin to see their side attempt to become the first qualifier (through winning their regional cup) to lift the Pokal.
They had already beaten four successive Bundesliga clubs to get here, and had a golden opportunity to take an early lead, but Noah Sarenren Bazee somehow diverted Joel Grodowski’s cross onto the bar with the goal at his mercy.
Speaking of mercy, Stuttgart showed none after that early scare, turning on the style and rocketing to a devastating three-goal lead.
Nick Woltemade had netted in each of Die Schwaben’s three successive league victories in the run-up to the final, and he made an impact again as he was released by Angelo Stiller on the 15-minute mark to slot past Jonas Kersken and put his side ahead.
Bielefeld’s shaky defending in conceding that goal was nothing compared to the mix-up between Sam Schreck and Marius Worl, which sent Deniz Undav through to square it to Enzo Millot for a simple tap-in.
Now looking like a side which played in the same division as Stuttgart’s reserve team this season, Bielefeld were shell-shocked, and the Olympiastadion clock hadn’t even reached the half-hour mark when Undav himself mustered a third after he took Stiller’s ball in his stride and finished low into the far corner.
With the wind taken out of their sails for the first time in this cup run, Michel Kniat’s side initially looked lifeless after the restart, allowing Stuttgart’s flair players to take advantage.
Louis Oppie misplaced his pass to Millot, who thundered towards goal before striking emphatically into the far corner for 4-0.
But Bielefeld were undeterred, and they somehow halved the deficit in the space of just three minutes. Julian Kania came off the bench to divert Christopher Lannert’s cross into the roof of the net, duly making Bielefeld the first third-tier side to score in a cup final, before Josha Vagnoman bizarrely nodded into his own net under pressure from Isaiah Young.
Just five minutes plus stoppage time proved too little though, and there was to be no Hollywood ending. As if they hadn’t been in full voice for the whole 90 minutes, the Stuttgart half of the Olympiastadion erupted at the final whistle to greet a first major trophy in 18 years and first Pokal since 1997.
Although they couldn’t replicate their successes in the earlier rounds, Bielefeld still made history and won hearts here, and can look forward to a second-tier return under Kniat’s leadership.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Angelo Stiller (Stuttgart)