“The scoreline flatters us a bit, but nevertheless we’ve managed to win away from home against a very energetic Nantes side. We’re satisfied with that,” said head coach Christian Streich following the final whistle at Stade Beaujoir.

Rotations in the starting XI

Following several weeks of using the same eleven players to start matches, Streich and is coaching staff decided to make four changes in the far west of France. Lukas Kübler, Yannik Keitel, Nils Petersen and Wooyeong Jeong replaced Kiliann Sildillia, Maxi Eggestein and Michael Gregoritsch, as well as the injured Daniel-Kofi Kyereh.

The rain throughout the day in the city on the Loire river hampered several things, not least the visiting fans’ chance to explore their new surroundings, but also the organised fan march. With around an hour before kick-off, things finally started to dry up and a pleasant evening awaited the 32,000 or so fans who had made their way into the stadium, around 1500 of whom were in the SCF end.

Nantes hit the woodwork twice, Kübler hammers home

The game was lively from the word go, with controversy in the first minute: Attempting to clear the ball, Andrei Girotto headed onto his own outstretched arm. Despite the protests from the men in red, referee Horatiu Fesnic decided against awarding Freiburg an early penalty. The next chances of the game all came for the away side, as Philipp Lienhart headed a corner centimetres over Alban Lafont’s goal, who then parried away a low Vincenzo Grifo drive (3’, 8’).

The reverse of this fixture last Thursday saw SC dominate the game in large parts, and, a week later, not much had changed. Freiburg had much more of the ball in the opening stages in Nantes, but the home team were also able to create chances and even hit the woodwork. Not once, but twice, too: Nicolas Pallois (12’) and Sébastien Corchi (20’) were both unlucky not to give the French side the lead. “It was a hard-fought half, and we didn’t get going in the game as well as we wanted to,” assessed Streich after the game.

These missed chances were then punished. Following some interplay between Grifo and Christian Günter, the latter crossed in from the left wing. Lafont in goal could only parry the ball into the middle, where it fell perfectly for Lukas Kübler. Making his first start since being forced off with injury against Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal, he latched onto the loose ball and powered a shot past the ‘keeper and into the net to give Freiburg the lead on 26 minutes.

The half did finish 1-0 to SCF, but not before a massive chance for Ritsu Doan in the closing stages. Played through fantastically by Grifo, the Japanese international only had Lafont to beat. He chose to try and beat the goalkeeper through his legs, though, and unsuccessfully (42’). It was the high point in a phase of the game where SC built up their play patiently and worked the space they had very cleverly but were unable to add to their lead.

Nantes put the pressure on

The start of the second 45 came with the “Canaries’” best phase of the game. Antoine Kombouaré’s team pressed higher and were a lot more dangerous in the final third. What followed was an abundance of set pieces and long-range shots for the Ligue 1 side.

It took around 20 minutes for Freiburg to make their mark on the second half in an attacking sense, but like London buses, two huge chances came along at once. Lafont first denied Nils Petersen’s well-placed header, before Pallois cleared off the line from Nicolas Höfler seconds later (63’).

Three late goals seal the win

Despite that flurry of action, the next goal actually came with less than 20 minutes remaining. Captain Günter, marauding down the left again, crossed perfectly for Wooyeong Jeong at the back post. He headed back across goal for substitute Michael Gregoritsch, who took the ball down and spun before finding the far corner for 2-0, opening the door for a fourth win in four Europa League games.

The second goal gave the men in red even more confidence, and just over 10 minutes later, they had their third. A slip from substitute Nantes defender Jean-Charles Castelletto allowed Kevin Schade to intercept, and his shot then deflected off the unfortunate Casteletto for the third goal (82’). Nantes’ heads had dropped by now, and Freiburg were able to put the finishing flourish on a perfect European evening. Gregoritsch took a shot from long range, which Lafonte was only able to parry – Jeong was first on the scene to slot home the rebound and give the away fans a fourth goal to celebrate (87’).

The final whistle came with the knowledge that SC Freiburg, with four wins from four games, have qualified for the knockout rounds of the UEFA Europa League. Focus will now return to domestic affairs for Christian Streich and co., who have a massive fixture on the cards against FC Bayern München on Sunday. The clash between 2nd and 4th places in the Bundesliga, SCF’s third long away trip in a week, kicks off at 19:30 CEST at the Allianz Arena.