“I saw a lot of good things. Strasbourg were strong opponents, particularly in the first game, which we dominated, although we were lacking a bit of attacking threat. In the second game, we started well, but we were too sloppy. It got better in the second half. Overall, I am happy,” said Christian Streich following the two showdowns in France.

Whilst SC started the second game against the Alsace-based team fielding a thoroughly changed eleven, Strasbourg coach Julien Stephan allowed the substitutes of the first match more game time.

In just the third minute of the game, the ball found itself in the back of the net. Guillaume Furrer latched on to Kiliann Sildillia’s pass from the right-hand side and gave Freiburg the lead from close range.

Against a lively SC, the Strasbourg players posed no real threat to the Freiburg goal in the first 20 minutes. Freiburg keeper Noah Atubolu was barely tested by a long-range effort from Aymeric Ahmed in the 25th minute.

In the opposing half, Christian Streich’s side could not capitalise on some promising counterattack scenarios, before Strasbourg grabbed an equaliser from nowhere. In the 29th minute, Mehdi Chahiri burst down the right flank and slotted the ball into the far corner past Noah Atubolu.

After the equaliser, the team from Alsace managed to make the match more even. Yet the biggest chance in the final minutes of the first period fell to Freiburg. Lukas Kübler delivered from the right wing for Wooyeong Jeong lying in wait on the penalty spot, but his volley landed just beyond the post, leaving the score 1-1 at the break.

Again Freiburg made the better start to the second half and had two good opportunities shortly after the restart from Noah Weißhaupt (48’) and Guillaume Furrer (51’). However, Keeper Eiji Kawashima had an answer for both. As the game went on, the Breisgauer remained the better team without creating any clear-cut chances. While Julien Stephan’s team resorted mainly to counterattacking, Freiburg tried to switch play and focused their build-up out wide. Apart from a misplaced low shot from a good 20 yards out from Noah Weißhaupt (79’) and a rushed, close-range finish by substitute Kevin Schade (83’), both teams were quiet in the final third until very late on. 

Three minutes from time, Freiburg wrapped up the match in their favour. Baptiste Santamaria was brought down in the area and the resulting penalty was converted confidently by centre-back Dominique Heintz, making it 2-1 to SCF, who would not let things slip in the final minutes.

This Sunday, Freiburg meet Würzburger Kickers away from home in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. Kick-off is at 18:30 CEST.