34th matchday
“It’s a pity in the end”: Freiburgers miss a premier class chance
Champions League places just missed: Freiburg’s Michael Gregoritsch is annoyed at 1: 2 at Eintracht Frankfurt. photo
© Arne Dedert/dpa
The dream of the Champions League lasts only half for SC Freiburg in Frankfurt. After that, Eintracht turns the game – and in the long-distance duel, 1. FC Union Berlin scores a late goal.
After the dream of the Champions League was over, the Freiburg players stood dejectedly in front of their fans – and were celebrated.
“A year full of passion and desire – the journey is not over yet,” said a poster from the supporters. And coach Christian Streich also emphasized much more the positive features of this strong season for the Breisgau team, which just wasn’t crowned with their first entry into the premier class.
Streich: “These are exceptional situations”
“If you had told me that we would not be in danger of relegation if we played Europa League, I would have said: I’ll take that with me,” said Streich after the 1-2 (1-0) win at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday: “The The team scored 59 points, we’re fifth. These are exceptional situations. We’re in areas that would have been unimaginable four or five years ago.”
Until the first half and the 1:0 lead by Vincenzo Grifo (44th minute), the club was still on the way to the Champions League in a long-distance duel with 1. FC Union Berlin. However, the double knockout followed after 81 minutes: Frankfurt’s Randal Kolo Muani scored the equaliser, and in Berlin Rani Khedira scored the winning goal for the Berliners almost at the same time.
“It’s a shame in the end,” said SC goalkeeper Mark Flekken, who will be leaving the club for England. “But we can be proud of what we have achieved.” The second goal conceded by Dina Ebimbe in added time (90+1) finally decided the game.
Small happy ending for SGE
For the reigning Europa League winner from Hesse, there was at least a little happy ending in the last home game of the outgoing coach Oliver Glasner in the race for an international starting place. Eintracht climbed to seventh place and at least secured participation in the playoffs for the Conference League. A victory in the cup final next Saturday in Berlin against RB Leipzig would lead to the Europa League.
“We still made it with will and morale,” said Eintracht sports director Markus Krösche. The success in the cup final dress rehearsal gives “self-confidence”. Board spokesman Axel Hellmann said: “That looked like a 70-minute warm-up for Berlin with little physical contact. We shot it again at the end and in the end we achieved our goal of playing internationally.” Everything that was to come was “the cherry on the cake,” said Hellmann.
The outgoing coach Glasner would like to see to that. “The game shows what an extraordinary attitude and mentality the team has,” said the Austrian. The effort was rewarded with a chance at the Conference League. “The first tick is done, but I’m not done yet. We want to win the DFB Cup.”