The game began with an extended period of silence. First the stadium stood for a minute’s silence in memory of Franz Beckenbauer, with the fans then silent for a further 12 minutes in protest against the DFL’s decision surrounding investors.
The first few minutes on the pitch were equally quiet. This period of quiet was broken after four minutes, with a murmur going around the ground after Michael Gregoritsch found himself in a promising position in front of the Union goal, but he couldn’t get a shot away. A minute later, Merlin Röhl, who was playing slightly deeper due to Nicolas Höfler’s absence, but who tried to pose an attacking threat nevertheless, headed a chance wide of the target after a cross from Vincenzo Grifo.
SC had the better of the opening stages, were livelier than the visitors and caused some murmurs of excitement in the crowd at the Europa-Park Stadion on a couple of occasions. No more so than in the eleventh minute, when Maximilian Eggestein played a good ball through to Roland Sallai, but he dragged his shot wide of the far post. The assistant referee subsequently also flagged him offside. No goal, but the atmosphere in the stadium was finally back, with both fans breaking their silence after twelve minutes.
Three good headed chances for SC
In the 15th minute, Sallai whipped a cross into the middle from the left-hand side, with Grifo rising to meet it in the middle, but Union’s ‘keeper Frederik Rönnow showed rapid reflexes to get his arms up to stop it and prevent Freiburg from taking the lead. Christian Streich on the sidelines couldn’t believe that it was still 0-0 and after this opening period it would’ve been a deserved lead. Union continued not to offer much in attack, with SC controlling the run of play. A freekick into the box in the 25th minute was the next good chance for SC, but Sallai headed wide.
Sallai was also at the heart of things six minutes later, but yet again there was no breakthrough. A long ball was played into the penalty area, with Matthias Ginter cleverly flicking it on to the Hungary international, but once again he headed wide of the target. The wait for a goal and a deserved lead continued. Grifo created the next opportunity with a fantastic ball from deep (37’). Unfortunately, Jordi Makengo was just offside after he received the ball and Christian Dingert had to pull the play back for an Union freekick.
SC show determination, Union wake up late on
Gregoritsch had the first shot of the second half, Union won their first corner and in the 53rd minute, Röhl went on a characteristic driving run from deep before playing the ball to Sallai, who crossed into the penalty area, but Grifo’s knock-down to Gregoritsch was too imprecise and Union managed to clear a promising opening for the hosts. Streich was pleased with what he saw in the first few minutes of the second half and applauded from the edge of his technical area.
SC’s attacking players were now getting into the game more. After contact to Sallai’s foot in the box (58’), the video assistant referee reviewed the incident, but decided against awarding a penalty. Two minutes later, Grifo had a chance, but his curling effort towards the far post was touched by Gregoritsch on the way through and accidentally diverted wide. SC were the team with the most possession and the better chances, but they weren’t rewarded for their efforts.
Röhl also couldn’t make the breakthrough
The guests had their first two chances of note in the 65th minute. Janik Haberer’s strike was blocked, with Jérome Roussillon’s follow-up header then easily saved by Noah Atubolu. The Köpenick-based side started playing on the front foot moreand had a couple of chances, but they didn’t create any real danger in front of the SC goal. Andras Schäfer shot wide from distance (78‘). The game was more open in the closing stages, with Union now looking to get forward more, but it was SC who had another good chance to take the lead. The ball fell to Röhl, who covered every blade of grass on the pitch, in the box after a corner and he shot on the turn, but his effort was straight at Rönnow in the Union goal (84’). “We only started to play better in the last 20 minutes, Freiburg were very good and didn’t let much through. A Freiburg win would’ve been deserved,” admitted Union’s coach Nenad Bejlica.
During the five minutes of additional time the game could’ve gone either way, with both sides trying to put the other under pressure by playing long, high balls into the penalty area. Neither team had any success with this, and the game finished in a draw. SC’s players agreed in their assessment of the game: “We were the better team today, but weren’t clinical enough in front of goal,” explained Eggestein and Gregoritsch. Streich was of the same opinion, “We played well but didn’t manage to score a goal. It is very frustrating and we’re disappointed.”
Photo: Achim Keller