Deniz Undav on Composure and the Berlin Final
Deniz Undav talks about goals the way a craftsman talks about his tools. No mystique, no grand theory. Just repetition, nerve – and the cold edge required when the moment arrives.
“Composure in front of goal is very important for strikers because it makes your shots more accurate,” the VfB Stuttgart forward explains. “If you drill that every day, you become ice-cold. If I had a bit more of that, I'd surely finish more chances.”
It is a revealing admission from a 29-year-old who has built his career on relentlessness rather than reputation. Undav knows exactly what awaits him on Saturday in Berlin: the biggest stage in German domestic football, against the biggest club of them all.
Underdogs in the capital
The final in the capital pits the defending champions against the record winners, a classic storyline with the roles already cast. Undav does not try to rewrite it.
In his eyes, Stuttgart are walking into the Olympiastadion as clear outsiders.
“In Saturday's Berlin final, the defending champions are complete underdogs against the record winners,” he says. “Bayern are the clear favourites, and there's no point pretending otherwise.”
There is no bluster here, no attempt to manufacture false bravado. He recognises the weight of Bayern’s history and the expectation that comes with it. But he also understands the volatility of knockout football, the way a single duel, a single mistake, a single finish can flip a script that looked set in stone.
“Still, anything can happen in a single game. We know we can disrupt them, unsettle them. We'll give it our all.”
That is where Undav’s obsession with composure matters most. Finals are rarely decided by the team that strings together the most passes. They are settled by the players who stay still inside the chaos, who see the corners of the goal when everyone else sees only noise.
Kebabs and silverware
For all the talk of tactics and mentality, there is also something disarmingly simple about this Stuttgart side: they know how to enjoy themselves.
After the final whistle, whatever the outcome, a small ritual waits. If it ends with a trophy, the celebration will be wrapped in flatbread and served with sauce.
After the match, the squad will celebrate with a “victory kebab” – a tradition that began in Berlin and has stuck. It is part in-joke, part bonding exercise, and now, potentially, part of club folklore.
“If we win, everyone's having a kebab,” Undav says. “I'll watch a few YouTube videos about the top five kebabs in Berlin and decide which one I like.”
It is a line that undercuts the tension of the occasion. One moment, he is talking about the need to be ice-cold in front of goal; the next, he is weighing up kebab reviews. The contrast fits him. Focus when it matters, looseness when it doesn’t.
Future on hold – but not for long
Once the smoke of Berlin clears, Undav’s schedule does not ease up. His summer will roll straight into the global spotlight.
After that, he will join Germany at the World Cup, carrying with him not just form and confidence, but possibly a new chapter in his club career.
A fresh VfB contract is on the table, and while nothing is signed yet, his stance is clear.
“There's no reason why not,” he states. “I've said many times that I enjoy playing here; I feel at home. I feel like a Stuttgart native, even if I'm not one. We're not far apart; it's just the small details.”
Those “small details” will be settled in offices and meeting rooms. Before that, Undav has a different kind of detail to worry about: the angle of a run, the weight of a first touch, the half-second between decision and strike.
If he finds that ice-cold edge he keeps chasing, Berlin might give him more than just a kebab.
