Europe League
Freiburg’s dream of the quarter-finals shattered
The Europa League season is over for SC Freiburg. photo
© Nigel French/PA Wire/dpa
Last year Juventus, this time West Ham. Freiburg is currently unable to do more than the round of 16 on the European stage. The starting position was so good.
Coach Christian Streich trudged into the middle of the game with great disappointment West Ham United sprayed soap bubbles across the pitch, while their Freiburg players were still celebrated frenetically by the supporters who had traveled with them, despite their biggest defeat in the European Cup.
The dream of Freiburg’s first European Cup quarter-finals has suddenly shattered. The sports club lost its good starting position with the clear 0:5 (0:2) at West Ham United and, as in the previous year, was eliminated in the round of 16 of the Europa League. After the 1-0 win in the first leg, the Breisgauers were still hoping for a big coup against last season’s Conference League winners.
“West Ham showed us what efficiency means. We had no chance,” admitted national soccer player Matthias Ginter on RTL+ and captain Christian Günter added: “Today they took advantage of their moments in the transition game. It felt like every chance was there. In We were able to keep them under control in the first leg, but not today in some situations. They punished them coldly.” Nevertheless, it was an “amazing experience”. “We learned a lot. Overall, it was a good European Cup season for us.”
Freiburg is too prone to errors on defense
Lucas Paqueta (9th minute) and Jarrod Bowen (32nd) put the Hammers on course for the quarterfinals with their goals in the first round, Aaron Cresswell (52nd) and twice Mohammed Kudus (77th and 85th) made everything clear. The Freiburg defeat is also a setback for German hopes in the fight for a fifth Champions League place. After all, Germany and England are currently dueling for second place in the UEFA annual rankings behind the leading Italians, which would bring another starting place.
“Just go out and play a good game based on our opportunities. Then we have a chance,” was Streich’s approach. But the Bundesliga team didn’t have their best evening in the drizzle at the London Stadium and were too prone to errors, especially in defense. That was punished coldly by the seventh-place team in the Premier League. The Londoners had already prevailed against Freiburg in the group phase with two wins.
SC rarely becomes dangerous
The plan to keep the hosts away from the goal didn’t work in the early stages. The hosts’ fourth corner led to their first goal when Tomas Soucek headed in, so Paqueta only had to push in at the back post. Freiburg responded with a chance from Roland Sallai, but he narrowly missed (10′).
But it didn’t happen; instead, West Ham continued to press. Kudus could have already increased (18th). That was done by Bowen, who took the ball away from SC captain Günter in the penalty area and gave goalkeeper Noah Atubolu no chance with a powerful shot. Only then did Freiburg become a little more present – supported by 2,400 fans who had traveled with them. Maximilian Eggestein (38th) and Vincenzo Grifo (40th) caused some goal threat.
Joker Gregoritsch doesn’t turn things around either
The appearance was not to the liking of long-term coach Streich, who announced a decision next week about his possible stay beyond the end of the season. So he brought in Edeljoker Michael Gregoritsch for the second half, who came off the bench in the first leg and also against Racing Lens and scored the winning goal in each case.
But that didn’t solve the defensive problems. Once again, West Ham took advantage of the Bundesliga club’s disorganization when Cresswell shot in from a half-left position following an assist from Bowen. The hosts then confidently maintained their lead over time. Kudus made Freiburg’s defeat even greater in the final phase, but that didn’t do justice to the proportions of the game.