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A 3-1 win at fallen giants Hamburg has earned historically modest club Freiburg a first trip to the final of the German Cup.

Freiburg have reached the final of the German Cup, the DFB-Pokal, for the first time, with a 3-1 win at Hamburg.

The small club from the country's south-west comfortably defeated the fallen giant from the north taking a 3-0 lead inside 40 minutes on Tuesday night.

Nils Petersen and Nicolas Hoefler scored after 10 and 17 minutes and Vincenzo Grifo made the result certain with a penalty in the 35th.

Freiburg are fifth in the Bundesliga while former European champions Hamburg are now in the second tier, and not likely to return to the top flight this season.

They reached this stage with three successive victories on penalties but there was never any chance of the semi-final going to spot-kicks.

Robert Glatzel's header gave Hamburg a deserved goal three minutes from the end but it was little consolation. They last reached a major final in 1987.

In the final, in Berlin on 21 May, Freiburg will play either RB Leipzig or Union Berlin, who play Wednesday.