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With last week’s agonising defeat at the hands of Stuttgart ending Freiburg’s DFB Pokal dreams for another year, their last chance for a trophy this season now rests on the Europa League. They travelled to the north of Portugal to face 2011 finalists Braga, hoping to take an advantage of sorts back to Germany for next week’s second leg.
Fresh off the back of a heavy defeat at the Westfalenstadion at the weekend, boss Julian Schuster made wholesale changes to his starting XI. Suzuki, Manzambi, Ginter, Makengo, Treu, and Beste returned in place of Höfler, Ogbus, Höler, Günter, Kübler, and Scherhant.
Freiburg started the game under the cosh and found themselves a goal down within the first eight minutes. Jordy Makengo’s headed clearance fell to the feet of Braga full-back Víctor Gómez, whose defence-splitting pass found Demir Ege Tıknaz, and the Turkish international made no mistake in beating Noah Atubolu.
Though as quickly as they went behind, Freiburg restored parity, equalising shortly after the quarter of an hour mark. With Jan-Niklas Beste and Vincenzo Grifo racing bearing down on goal, referee Anthony Taylor let play go on after a nasty challenge on Igor Matanović. Beste squared the ball to his captain, who slotted underneath the onrushing Lukáš Horníček.
The remainder of the opening period went by *almost* without a hitch for Schuster’s side who, despite having no more than a snapshot from distance in terms of chances to take the lead, limited Braga to much of the same at the other end. That was until moments before the half-time whistle, when Philipp Lienhart was adjudged to have fouled Gustaf Lagerbielke in the box after a controversial VAR check. Rodrigo Zalazar struck well from the spot, but Noah Atubolu would pull off a brilliant save to keep the scores level going into the break.
After the first half lacked chances for the German side, they grew into the game in the second period, squandering many an opportunity to take a lead back to the Europa-Park Stadion next week.
First, Johan Manzambi couldn’t trouble Horníček after he raced through on goal thanks to a beautifully cushioned header by Matanović. The Hamburg-born striker then himself failed to hit the target with a free header inside the box from a corner. Lastly, Maximilian Eggestein was well-positioned inside the penalty area as the ball fell kindly to him; his first-time shot was easily saved by the Braga stopper.
They would be made to pay for those missed chances with virtually the last kick of the game. Vitor Carvalho’s effort was split by Atubolu, directly into the path of Mario Dorgeles, who poked home.
A defeat on the night for Freiburg, who have now suffered three defeats in a row in all competitions for the first time this season. After the end of season run-in offered so much for Julian Schuster’s side, they now find themselves on the back foot in what is their last opportunity for a trophy this season – and potentially European football next season.
Braga 2-1 Freiburg | Player Ratings
Freiburg:
Noah Atubolu (6) – Philipp Treu (6), Matthias Ginter (6), Philipp Lienhart (5), Jordy Makengo (5) – Maximilian Eggestein (6), Johan Manzambi (6) – Jan-Niklas Beste (7), Yuito Suzuki (5), Vincenzo Grifo (7) – Igor Matanović (7)
Others: Derry Scherhant (6), Lukas Höler (6)
GGFN Man of the Match | Vincenzo Grifo (7)
Had it not been for his last-minute blunder that gifted the hosts their second goal, the award would have gone to Noah Atubolu. Therefore, Freiburg scorer Vincenzo Grifo takes the praise by default in what was not a good night at the office for Die Breisgauer.
GGFN | Harry Good
