There were only 22,000 spectators at the 50,000-seat Decathlon Arena - Stade Pierre Mauroy on Thursday afternoon. Even so, the volume levels in the stands were loud for the most part during the final game of the Europa League group stage, which was amplified by the stadium roof being closed. Before the game kicked off, the equation for SC Freiburg was simple: a draw or a win would secure qualification for the last 16 of the competition. SC would have only slipped out of the top eight spots in the league if they succumbed to a defeat,  and results elsewhere went against Julian Schuster’s side. On the other hand, Lille OSC needed a win to book their spot in the play-off round, following a run of five successive defeats to start the calendar year.

Both teams started the game tentatively, with the hosts having the first sight at goal. Calvin Verdonk drilled a pass from the baseline towards Matias Fernandez-Pardo, but Matthias Ginter anticipated the danger and intercepted the ball (7’). The ‘Mastiffs’, as the home side are known due to the animal on their club crest, had around 60% possession in the opening fifteen minutes, though Noah Atubolu remained untroubled in the SCF goal.

Igor Matanovic, who made it 2-1 against 1. FC Köln at the weekend, was named on the bench for Freiburg. Junior Adamu took his place in the starting XI. Christian Günter replaced Lukas Kübler who was nursing a knee injury, while Vincenzo Grifo and Johan Manzambi also started in place of Derry Scherhant and Patrick Osterhage. In the heart of the SCF defence, Bruno Ogbus made his European debut, with Max Rosenfelder not travelling to Northern France for load management reasons.

Adamu with chances after the break

It took until the 23rd minute for Hakon Haraldsson to have the first attempt at goal of the evening, with his effort from 20 yards out narrowly missing the target. The Iceland attacker stood out in the first half, forming a key part of the French side’s passing play and dropping deep to facilitate their build-up. Olivier Giroud, France’s all-time leading goalscorer with 57 goals for his national time, initially watched on from the bench as Freiburg put in a gritty, but effective, defensive team performance in the first 45.

“Especially in the second half, we started to tilt the balance of the game in our favour and had a couple of good chances,” said Julian Schuster after the final whistle. Neither side was firing on all cylinders after the interval, though, with a mistake from the hosts providing an opportunity for Junior Adamu to give his side the lead out of nowhere. Nathan Ngoy misjudged a long ball forward and inadvertently headed the ball into the path of the onrushing Austrian. Adamu hesitated for a moment too long in Lille’s box, however, giving Ngoy the chance to amend his previous mistake and win the ball back. Five minutes later, Adamu had another chance. Following some nice combination play with Suzuki, he cleverly jinked past the last defender and lined up a shot from 13 yards out which ended up flying well wide. At the other end, Ogbus blocked Correia’s effort from a promising position.

Eggestein given marching orders before late Giroud winner

The game started to open up more as the second half drew on, with both sides taking more risks. Julian Schuster’s side looked to be playing with a high defensive line from time to time, which almost ended up being their undoing in the 64th minute. Fernandez-Pardo was through on goal after a defence-splitting ball and had time to mull over his options as he bared down on Atubolu. Ultimately, he decided to dink the ball over the keeper, but it didn’t have enough elevation on it and Freiburg’s number one saved it comfortably.

The final fifteen minutes dampened the spirits of the 1,700 travelling fans somewhat. First, Maximilian Eggestein flew into a late tackle on Fernandez-Pardo and caught the attacker’s ankle with his studs. Referee Damian Sylwestrzak immediately reached for a red card, and SCF went down to ten men (74’). In added time, Cyriaque Irié also put in a late challenge on Fernandez-Pardo. Giroud, who had just come on as a substitute, stepped up to take the resulting penalty and gave Atubolu no chance, sealing victory and progression to the play-offs for the hosts in the progress (90+2’).

“On the one hand, it’s disappointing to have lost the game. On the other, it’s important to stress that SC Freiburg have managed to finish in the top eight,” surmised Julian Schuster when asked about his general mood in the post-match press conference. After finishing seventh, Freiburg will face off against one of KRC Genk, Bologna FC, Dinamo Zagreb or SK Brann in the last 16 on the 12th and 19th of March, with the second leg being played at the Europa-Park Stadion. On Sunday (15:30 CET), SCF will return to Bundesliga action against VfB Stuttgart, who qualified for the Europa League playoffs after winning their match on Thursday evening.

Photo: Marco Steinbrenner (DeFodi Images)