A draw against the team currently sitting in third place would probably have been seen as a decent result by most in the Freiburg camp before kick-off. Come full time, however, a sense of frustration outweighed any satisfaction, as the side were unable to see a strong performance in their final home match of the year rewarded with all three points.

Following the win against Salzburg, SC began their final home game of the year with three changes to the starting XI. Anthony Jung came into the heart of defence for Philipp Lienhart, who was ruled out with muscular problems. Niklas Beste missed out through illness and was replaced by Lukas Kübler, while Patrick Osterhage started in place of Vincenzo Grifo.

Niko Kovač made four changes compared to Borussia Dortmund’s 2-2 draw in the Champions League against Bodø/Glimt. Serhou Guirassy, Carney Chukwuemeka, Emre Can and Julian Ryerson replaced Aarón Anselmino, Waldemar Anton, Maximilian Beier, and Julian Brandt.

End-to-end in the opening period

In the wake of midweek criticism from Nico Schlotterbeck regarding his teammates’ performance, and the disciplinary exclusion of Julien Duranville and Cole Campbell from the squad, Borussia arrived in Freiburg with plenty to prove. That was evident from the outset, as Guirassy headed narrowly wide from eight yards inside the opening six minutes. Fifteen minutes later, Chukwuemeka came even closer, striking the woodwork from a tight angle.

Initially pushed back, SC began to grow into the match and created their first promising chances after around ten minutes. Gregor Kobel reacted sharply to deny Johan Manzambi from close range, while Yuito Suzuki missed Christian Günter’s cross by inches inside the six-yard box.

With fierce duels, high intensity and opportunities at both ends, the 34,000-strong crowd in a sold-out Europa-Park Stadion were treated to an entertaining first half. Freiburg remained compact at the back and continued to pose a threat going forward.

Bensebaini puts BVB ahead

Despite Freiburg’s positive display, it was the visitors who went ahead after 31 minutes. Following a free kick from the right flank, SC were unable to clear the danger effectively enough, and Ramy Bensebaini reacted quickest at the far post to open the scoring for BVB.

Freiburg came close to an immediate response as half-time approached. Suzuki spun smartly in the penalty area and fired just wide from eight metres (41’), while Günter’s powerful effort from the left flashed just millimetres over the bar just before the break (45’). The teams headed down the tunnel for half-time with Dortmund holding a slender advantage.

A red card and a show-stopping goal in the second 45

Just eight minutes into the second half, the balance of the game shifted decisively in favour of SC Freiburg. Philipp Treu was ice-cold when Kobel played the ball in the direction of Jobe Bellingham, reaching the ball first and being brought down by the BVB midfielder at the edge of the box. Referee Felix Zwayer showed Bellingham a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, before Günter’s resulting free kick fired narrowly wide of the left post.

Dortmund responded to going down to ten men with a defensively minded substitution, while Freiburg increased the pressure and pinned BVB deep in their own half. Treu really made his presence known in the final third, twice coming close to equalising, while Suzuki’s curling effort from the edge of the area agonisingly bounced back off the crossbar (73’).

The breakthrough finally came five minutes later. Lucas Höler controlled a waist-high pass into the box with great skill and finished in equally spectacular fashion, executing an acrobatic volley that bounced in off the inside of the post to make it 1-1 (75’).

Buoyed by the backing of the home crowd, Freiburg continued to dominate, and thought they’d pulled off the comeback five minutes before the end of regular time, only for Igor Matanović’s close-range effort to be ruled out for offside. Even an extended period of stoppage time wasn’t enough to alter the outcome, and the match ended in what, from a Dortmund perspective, was a flattering 1-1 draw.

SC Freiburg are back in action next Saturday, making their final appearance before Christmas away at VfL Wolfsburg. Kick-off is scheduled for 15:30 CET.

Photo: SC Freiburg