On Thursday evening in the principality, SC Freiburg followed up a poor first half with a markedly better performance in the second 45. However, they were unable to equalise, and the fifth-placed side in Ligue 1 added two to their lead in the closing stages to seal victory.

“We didn’t start the game the way we set out to. For me, the energy was lacking. It meant that Monaco had the upper hand,” explained Julian Schuster after the final whistle, although he praised his side for their second-half display. “The reaction after the break was very good. We missed the chance to equalise, but we were much better. Monaco exploited the space that we afforded them. I think that the 3-0 scoreline flatters them.”

Three changes and a vocal away end

The Freiburg coaching staff made three changes to the starting XI following the narrow defeat in Leverkusen at the weekend. Lukas Kübler, Vincenzo Grifo and Max Rosenfelder replaced Philipp Treu, Derry Scherhant and the injured Philipp Lienhart.

While the Monaco fans only trickled into the sparsely populated Stade Louis II, the sold-out away end made their presence felt right from the off. The 800 Freiburg fans seemed to be in good spirits and – at the very least in terms of volume – seemed to have the upper hand.

On the pitch, though, the Monegasque side set the tone and managed to get into promising positions in the box on several occasions with clever, intricate passing moves. The SCF defence managed to intervene at just the right moments, and although Mathys Detourbet was in an offside position when he got a shot off in the first few minutes of the game, his effort was saved by Mio Backhaus regardless (4’).

Engelhardt sustains injury

Just after the quarter-of-an-hour mark, Julian Schuster was forced into making the first change of the game. Yannik Engelhardt, who had landed heavily on his hip after an aerial duel a couple of minutes beforehand, had to depart the action and was replaced by Patrick Osterhage. Shortly after that, Freiburg threatened the Monaco goal for the first time. After a set piece from the half-way line, taken by Niklas Beste, Kübler’s header went well wide of the goal (17’).

As opposed to the host’s high pressing, SCF opted for a possession-based approach to get out of their own half and boost their confidence. Halfway through the first 45, the balance of play looked to have evened out, before AS Monaco upped the ante once more. Backhaus was called into action twice, first denying Mamadou Coulibaly’s shot from a tight angle (24’), before he was called into action to neutralise the threat posed by Paris Brunner (27’).

Brunner opens the scoring

For a long time, it looked as though SC would manage to reach the break with the scoreline intact at 0-0. However, they went into the interval trailing 1-0 after Brunner chipped the ball over Rosenfelder, sprinted past the last defender and slotted the ball past Backhaus.

The second half began with some changes in personnel – Lucas Höler entered the fray in place of Yuito Suzuki – and a couple of huge chances for SCF. A Beste corner eventually landed at Kübler’s feet at the edge of the six-yard box, but his attempt to equalise from close range went begging. Freiburg remained behind after Matthias Ginter was unable to convert a rebound.

Still, SC looked like a completely different side after emerging from the dressing room, putting the opposition under pressure and establishing themselves in the AS Monaco half. For their part, the home side looked to exploit the spaces left in behind the Freiburg defence on the counter and were a hair’s breadth away from taking the lead. Once again, it was a one-on-one between Brunner and Backhaus – on this occasion, the Freiburg number one managed to get the better of the Dortmund player. 

Monaco extend lead

Despite setting the tone, SC hadn’t managed to change the picture, nor the scoreline with twenty minutes to go until the final whistle. The eleven Freiburg players on the pitch ran and combined fluently in and around the opposition’s sixteen-yard box and had numerous set-pieces, but still only managed to create a few promising scoring chances.
Even so, Monaco added to their lead in the closing stages. Following a counterattack, Ansu Fati put Backhaus to the test with a shot from the left-hand side of the penalty area. Freiburg’s keeper managed to punch the ball away, but it landed at Lamine Camara’s feet, and the midfielder fired home to make it 2-0 (83’). Fati also got his name on the scoresheet in added time to condemn SCF to a 3-0 loss.

Photo: Ingrid Zambrano / deFodi Image