SCF’s final home game of the Europa League league phase was played in unfamiliar circumstances. The match against Maccabi Tel Aviv took place under heightened security measures due to the political situation in the Middle East. This meeting with Maccabi Tel Aviv, who are based in one of Freiburg’s partner cities, was SC’s first competitive game against an Israeli club.

Another notable aspect of the match, though, was that SCF would have the chance to take an important step towards securing a spot in the top eight and direct passage to the round of 16. The team deservedly picked up all three points after a dominant display and made it four wins from four Europa League home games. With 17 points on the board, SC Freiburg now sit third in the table ahead of the decisive final matchday.

“The conditions weren’t easy, particularly in terms of the circumstances around the game and the expectations of us on the pitch. But you couldn’t see that in the team’s performance,” said Julian Schuster. “We needed to be patient. The opposing team were very compact. Today, playing for the win didn’t just mean playing forward, but also playing with discipline,” added the SC head coach. “However, we upped the pressure with every passing minute in the second half and thoroughly deserved our goal.”

Six changes for European action

SCF made six alterations to their starting line-up from the Bundesliga draw with FC Augsburg last time out. Max Rosenfelder and Christian Günter replaced Bruno Ogbus and Jordy Makengo in defence. Patrick Osterhage came in for Johan Manzambi in midfield, while Niklas Beste, Yuito Suzuki and Derry Scherhant formed the attack. The latter trio came on as substitutes together in the second half against Augsburg, playing a huge part in SC’s comeback from 2-0 down.

Maccabi Tel Aviv had gone home empty-handed from their domestic-league fixture at the weekend. For their visit to the Europa-Park Stadion, head coach Zarko Lazetić made a full nine changes from the 4-1 loss to Maccabi Haifa. However, this did not harm the visitors’ cohesion, and they were able to show some of their qualities on the ball in the early stages.

Nevertheless, it was Freiburg who were the dominant side and had the first chance through Scherhant’s low effort (11’). A misplaced pass from Maccabi goalkeeper Roi Mishpati led to the next opportunity. Igor Matanović, though, was caught by surprise and unable to get the ball on target from the edge of the box (19’).

SCF dominate goalless first half

With 25 minutes on the clock, the hosts had dominated possession but created few clearcut chances. Maximilian Eggestein had an opportunity through a header from a corner. During another SC attack on the half-hour mark, defender Heitor jostled Philipp Treu to the ground in the penalty area, but referee Mohammed Al-Hakim allowed play to continue. An ambitious first-time effort from Suzuki went over the bar after a Scherhant free kick (34’). Scherhant was also involved in Freiburg’s best chance of the first half, as Matanović got on the end of his cross but was denied by Mishpati from close range (37’).

The visitors were mainly focused on defending and only rarely came forward themselves, which was also partially because SCF were defensively alert and hardly let their goal come under any danger – although Noah Atubolu was tested in first-half injury time. Sayed Abu Farchi rose highest to get his head to a corner, but the SC ‘keeper made an excellent save (45’+2).

Good opportunities after the break

Freiburg piled on the pressure early in the second half. Suzuki’s low cross beat Mishpati but could not find a player in an SCF shirt. Eventually, yet another corner led to a huge chance to take the lead. Firstly, after Scherhant’s delivery, Mishpati made a reflex save from Matthias Ginter’s header. Matanović struck the bar from the follow-up, before Suzuki fired narrowly over with the third attempt (56’). Soon after, Scherhant’s shot from distance flew just wide of the far post.

Despite the increasing pressure from Freiburg, the Europa League’s current last-placed side continued to hold firm with a determined performance. Goalkeeper Mishpati played a significant part in this, making another good save from Scherhant after the SC man had played a one-two with Matanović (68’). He then denied Scherhant again after an effort from just inside the box (76’). Not long afterwards, Matanović was inches away from getting a touch on Christian Günter’s cross.

Matanović header makes the difference

Head coach Schuster made a triple substitution as the game moved into the later stages, sending on Vincenzo Grifo, Cyriaque Irié and Johan Manzambi. Then, just three minutes later, Freiburg took a much-deserved lead. Matanović met Günter’s cross with a well-placed header into the top corner (82’). This was also his first goal in the Europa League for SCF. There were eight minutes of injury time added on to the 90. Grifo (90’+5) missed another good chance for SC, who remain unbeaten in the Europa League.

Speaking about goalscorer Igor Matanović, Schuster said: “He always has that instinct, but it is equally impressive how hard he works on the pitch.” Freiburg round off a busy week with another match at the Europa-Park Stadion. On Sunday (17:30 CET), they host 1. FC Köln in their first home game of the second half of the Bundesliga season. SCF will travel to OSC Lille on Thursday, 29th January (21:00 CET) for their final match of the Europa League league phase.

Photo: Achim Keller