“I’m expecting opponents who will throw everything at it,” Julian Schuster had said prior to the match. “Everything is on the line for them, and that’s how they’ll approach the game.” Wolfsburg were buoyed by FC St. Pauli’s 2-1 defeat a few hours earlier, which meant the Wolves had the chance to move two points ahead of the Kiezkicker with a victory. The visitors made an adventurous start in front of 32,500 spectators at the Europa-Park Stadion. Christian Eriksen struck the post with a powerful effort from just inside the box. At the other end, Vincenzo Grifo fired a free kick over the bar from a promising position.

The SCF coaching staff made three changes to the side who started in the 2-1 defeat to SC Braga. Bruno Ogbus, Christian Günter and Lucas Höler came in for Philipp Lienhart, Jordy Makengo and Igor Matanovic. Wolfsburg’s top scorer Mohamed Amoura, who has netted eight times this season, was named on the bench.

Both sides came out of the blocks quickly and the game began in end-to-end fashion. In the 16th minute, Dzenan Pejcinovic had only Atubolu to beat when he got on the end of a long ball, but his shot from the edge of the area was too close to the SC goalkeeper. By the mid-point of the first half, Freiburg had enjoyed more than 60 percent possession, but were yet to create any clearcut opportunities. “Despite having lots of possession, we didn’t manage to threaten the opponents’ goal. That’s on us,” said Julian Schuster after the match.

After a breathless start, the game noticeably began to settle down towards the end of the first half. Adam Daghim had the best chance of the first period when he got his head onto Konstantinos Koulierakis’ cross from the left. However, Noah Atubolu was not tested as Daghim’s header went wide, and it remained goalless at the break.

Wolfsburg net from second corner of the match

Both teams came out for the second half unchanged. Straight after the restart, Johan Manzambi was put under pressure by three Wolfsburg players while deep in his own penalty area, but managed to recover at the crucial moment after making a small error. In the 55th minute, Ogbus made a brilliant tackle to deny Pejcinovic, resulting in only the game’s second corner. Eriksen’s delivery found the arriving Koulierakis, who nodded in a powerful header from the edge of the six-yard box to put the Wolves ahead. Not long after, SCF almost responded immediately when Johan Manzambi curled an effort narrowly wide from around 15 yards out (60’).

“It felt like the goal had been coming,” said Julian Schuster at his post-match press conference. “We improved after that. It’s good that the lads showed character. That’s a hallmark of this team.” The clock was ticking for Freiburg, who were still struggling to create clearcut chances. Yuito Suzuki had an opportunity when he arrived on the penalty spot after a headed pass from Matthias Ginter, but slipped before he could get his shot away (67’). Eight minutes later, though, the ball was in the Wolfsburg net. Manzambi’s cross was met by the substitute Philipp Lienhart, whose header from the centre of the box went in off the post.

Chances for a late winner

“We showed that we can come from behind – and we showed that in Braga, too,” Philipp Treu told ARD after the game. In the end, SC came away with ‘only’ a point rather than three. This was partially because, although they did have opportunities in the closing stages, the ball just did not want to go in. Lienhart’s header from a Beste corner (86’), Manzambi’s strike after a solo run (90’) and Eggestein’s shot from the edge of the area while off balance (90+1’) all came close, but none ended up being the winner. It finished in a 1-1 draw, which was arguably a fair result, especially as SC had just one corner to the visitors’ seven.

Attentions now turn to Thursday (21:00 CEST), when Freiburg host SC Braga in their UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg.

Photo: Achim Keller