SC went into the game one point ahead of Frankfurt and Augsburg in the race for Europe, with their rivals facing VfB Stuttgart and Union Berlin respectively. With Freiburg racing into a 2-0 before adding two more goals after the break, there was no need to keep an eye on results elsewhere – much to Julian Schuster’s delight: “Huge credit to the team for managing that balancing act ahead of the Europa League final and staying fully focused on the task at hand. We put a lot of the things we discussed after the game against Hamburg into practice. It means an incredible amount to us as a club to be able to look forward to more European nights with the fans.”

Rotation on both sides

SC made four changes from the defeat in Hamburg. Philipp Lienhart, Jordy Makengo, Derry Scherhant and Nicolas Höfler replaced Bruno Ogbus, Philipp Treu, Vincenzo Grifo and Lucas Höler.

Leipzig, already assured of Champions League football, made five changes to the side that beat St. Pauli 2-1. Péter Gulácsi, Conrad Harder, Nicolas Seiwald, Max Finkgräfe and Benjamin Henrichs started in place of Maarten Vandevoordt, Ridle Baku, Xaver Schlager, Rômulo and David Raum.

The hosts were given an early reminder of how quickly Leipzig can move the ball in attack in just the second minute. Yan Diomande cut in from the left towards the edge of the box and got the ball back at the end of a slick move seven yards from Noah Atubolu’s goal – to the relief of the home crowd, he fired straight at the SC 'keeper.

Freiburg showed straight away that they can break quickly after winning the ball back too. Scherhant drove forward outside the box and found Johan Manzambi making a run to his left, but his powerful strike flew over the bar (4’). Clear chances were otherwise hard to come by in the opening stages, though the sold-out home crowd still saw an energetic display from their side, who had the slight upper hand and pressed Leipzig early in their build-up play.

Beste and Matanovic strike before the break

It was not just SC’s own performance that offered encouragement, with results elsewhere also raising optimism in the stands midway through the first half: both Frankfurt and Augsburg were trailing 1-0.

Freiburg’s quickfire double in the 24th and 26th minutes soon made the scores in Stuttgart and Berlin fade into the background anyway. Matthias Ginter met Igor Matanovic’s cross and struck the bar, with Niklas Beste reacting quickest to turn the rebound over the line (24’). Just two minutes later, Matanovic headed in from Manzambi’s excellent cross to make it 2-0 (26’).

The two-goal cushion did not last long, however, as Assan Ouédraogo pulled one back with a well-placed low strike after a superb solo run from Diomande (33’). Atubolu then made strong saves to deny Diomande, who had broken through again (35’), and Harder (44’), ensuring SC went in at the break 2-1 ahead.

Ginter and Scherhant add further goals

An unchanged SC side had a big chance to add a third straight after the restart. Matanovic sent Philipp Treu in behind, and although he was denied one-on-one by Gulácsi, he did win the corner that would lead to Freiburg’s third. Makengo kept the initially cleared set piece alive on the edge of the box, Ginter showed real strength to win his duel and acrobatically bundled the ball over the line (47’).

With just over half an hour left, Höfler made his final appearance at the Europa-Park Stadion. The experienced midfielder, who sits third on SC’s all-time appearance list with 382 games, was given a standing ovation accompanied by loud chants as he left the pitch. Substitute Maximilian Philipp received the same in the 86th minute.

After making it 3-1, Freiburg kept Leipzig well away from their own goal for the most part, continued to threaten going forward and wrapped things up in the 75th minute. After fine work from Matanovic, the lively Scherhant stayed cool in front of Gulácsi and finished to make it 4-1.

An impressive performance in SC’s 53rd competitive game of the season saw them wrap up seventh place, guaranteeing them a spot in the Conference League play-offs, with a lively atmosphere and non-stop chants long after full time. “Today’s game reflected what has happened over the course of the year and what we have achieved. It’s a fitting way for us to end the league season,” Schuster emphasised after the match.

The crowning moment of the season is set to follow on Wednesday, when SC face Aston Villa in the Europa League final. “I have that inner belief that we can do it,” an emotional Höfler stated after his final home game for SC. Kick-off at Besiktas Park is at 21:00 CEST.

Photo: SC Freiburg