SCF will continue their journey in this season’s UEFA Europa League beyond the group phase after victory on matchday 6. Following their win over FC Salzburg, Freiburg have a tally of 14 points which means that, even with two defeats in their final two games, it is mathematically impossible for them to drop below 24th place and, by extension, out of play-off contention.

Thursday evening started out tough for SC Freiburg. The visitors from Salzburg hit the ground running with two big chances in quick succession. First, neither SC defenders nor RBS attackers managed to latch onto Yorbe Vertessen’s cut back as it rolled harmlessly through the Freiburg six-yard box. Then, the former Union Berlin attacker tested Noah Atubolu with a powerful shot from distance a few seconds later. Salzburg’s players had travelled to Freiburg without their head coach. Thomas Letsch, who coached VfL Bochum from 2022 to 2024, missed the game due to illness. His assistant coach, Kai Hesse, took his place on the sideline for the sixth game of their Europa League campaign.

The SCF coaching staff were all present for the game and opted to make three changes to the side that fell to a last-gasp defeat against 1. FC Heidenheim last weekend. Christian Günter took Lukas Kübler’s place in the starting XI, while Yuito Suzuki replaced Patrick Osterhage, and Junior Adamu was given the nod over Lucas Höler to take on his former club.

“We shouldn’t underestimate them – they have quality, talented players,” the Austrian striker explained in the press conference before the game, and his words were backed up by the opening stages. The 31,100 fans in attendance at the Europa-Park Stadion witnessed the home team’s first chance of the night eighteen minutes into the match, as Suzuki’s venomous effort from 22 yards out went just over the bar. Ten minutes later, Manzambi tried his luck from range and also wasn’t too far away from giving his side the lead. By this point, Freiburg had grown into the game but without creating any clear-cut opportunities.

Eggestein goes close, Ratkov sees red

Even though not much was happening in open play, SC could still depend on set-pieces to generate opportunities. Just after the half-hour mark, they almost broke the deadlock from a corner. An onrushing Maximilian Eggestein connected with Vincenzo Grifo’s cross towards the near post and tried to nod it into the far corner, ultimately missing by a hair’s breadth (31’). The SCF midfielder’s head would be involved in another decisive moment just four minutes after that. Petar Ratkov violently elbowed Eggestein in the face while going up for a header. Azerbaijani referee Elchin Masiyev initially booked the Salzburg striker, then reversed his decision and gave Ratkov his marching orders after consulting the pitchside monitor.

“For us, it was important to stay disciplined and positive. It was clear that we’d get our chances,” said Julian Schuster after the game. Up until the break, however, Freiburg struggled to take advantage of their numerical advantage. In fact, the opposition almost turned the tables on the hosts. After 42 minutes, Salzburg had the best chance of the game so far, as Edmund Baidoo slipped past Philipp Lienhart and then fired wide from eight yards out. Going into the interval, the game remained goalless.

Lienhart puts SC on course for victory

Freiburg got off to an energetic start in the second half and capitalised on their early momentum from a corner. After playing the set piece short, the ball ended up with Niklas Beste on the edge of the box who lined up a low, driven shot and let fly. Lienhart was lingering just in front of the Salzburg goal and got a decisive touch on Beste’s effort to deflect it into the back of the net, making it 1-0 to SCF (50’). Nine minutes later, Matthias Ginter had the chance to double the lead with his head, but the chance went begging. “After that, we didn’t give them a sniff,” noted Schuster. “Full credit to the team. I said that I wanted to see a lot of heart today, and that’s exactly what was on display.”

Despite going behind, the Austrian side concentrated on keeping things tight at the back with nine outfield players, while SC controlled the flow of the game. There was a real dearth of chances at both ends of the pitch in the final half an hour. Beste had the best opportunity to extend Freiburg’s advantage, but his two efforts were blocked just in front of Alexander Schlager’s goalline. In the fourth minute of added time, Christian Günter almost tripped the Austria keeper up with a shot that bobbled across the pitch. Shortly after that, the referee brought the game to a close. SC remain undefeated following their sixth Europa League encounter of the season and will be back at the Europa-Park Stadion on Sunday to face off against Borussia Dortmund (15:30 CET).

Photo: Achim Keller