Matchday 33: With beer and tears: Petersen’s dream farewell in Freiburg

33rd matchday
With beer and tears: Petersen’s dream farewell in Freiburg

Nils Petersen happily high-fived his coach after a Hollywood-ready football evening and stood on the pitch with tears in his eyes. The fans bowed to the noble joker in his last home game as a football professional.

After the lead by captain Christian Günter (71st minute), who had come on as a substitute 39 seconds earlier, Petersen scored another of his dreaded joker goals just four minutes later. “Thank you Nils – no one is bigger than the club – but you were damn close” was written in huge letters on a banner of the Freiburg fans. “An outstanding person, an outstanding personality,” said Captain Günter about Petersen on the DAZN streaming service: “My goal doesn’t give a fuck today.”

With his goal, Petersen kept the dream of the Breisgauers alive for the first time in the Champions League, VfL Wolfsburg had to admit defeat to the Freiburgers 0:2 (0:0) at the start of the penultimate matchday in the Bundesliga. And Petersen enjoyed the party in the midst of the celebrating fans with a sip of beer after the final whistle. The red card from Nicolas Höfler (90 + 3.) after a serious foul in injury time only spoiled the Freiburg football festival a little. “All in all, there can’t be a better finish at home,” said Günter: “Pure goosebumps.”

Freiburg still hopes for a premier class premiere

RB Leipzig in third place in the Bundesliga with one point more than SC at Bayern and 1. FC Union Berlin in fourth and tied with Freiburg at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim are now challenged.

In any case, after the victory in front of 33,300 spectators, the Freiburg team of coach Christian Streich can still hope for a premiere in the premier class. At the start of the 33rd match day, the two substitutes brought the momentum that had been missing in the game with few highlights for a long time. Unlike in the women’s DFB Cup final the day before, Wolfsburg left the field as a loser this time and feared falling out of the international ranks shortly before the end of the season.

Petersen, Schmid and stadium announcer said goodbye

There was a first bang an hour before the start, when fireworks were ignited not far from the stadium to open the Freiburg “Spring Fair”. The sports club also had plans before kick-off: Freiburg not only said goodbye to Petersen, but also to defensive player Jonathan Schmid and stadium announcer Claus Köhn. There were three identification figures of the past years. Ex-coach Volker Finke and former national coach Joachim Löw joined the emotional ceremony via video message.

Only one thing counted for both clubs on the pitch: a win. For the sports club to save one last premier class chance. For the guests to secure sixth place and thus an international participation. But there wasn’t much to see at first. Wolfsburg waited and established themselves on the defensive.

SC ups the pressure after the break

The Breisgauer, where Günter was on the bench for the first time since April 2017 in a Bundesliga game without suspension, were the more active team. Again and again it went over the left flank and Vincenzo Grifo, but none of his shots were really dangerous. When asked why Günter was sitting outside this time, Streich only said: “Because Noah Weißhaupt is playing. That’s a stupid answer, but it’s a bit like that.” The 0:0 at half time corresponded to the course of the game despite more active Freiburgers.

After the break, Freiburg increased the pressure. Only national player Matthias Ginter (54th) missed to provide the lead after a sharp free kick. The substitutes, who brought Streich 20 minutes before the end of the game, did that. A violent shot by Günter was fortunately deflected and heralded the Freiburg festival. It was fitting that Petersen scored after a further assist from the outstanding Roland Sallai. Petersen then even scored a second time, but the video assistant recognized it 3-0. But Streich also had tears in his eyes on an emotional evening.

dpa