SC Freiburg achieved a goalless draw against favorites RC Lens in the second round of the Europa League. The people from Breisgau are convincing, but they are still not satisfied.
“That’s a shame,” said coach Christian Streich in three words after SC Freiburg’s 0-0 draw at RC Lens. It’s a shame because his team missed out on rewarding a very good performance with an even better result.
“We played an extremely disciplined game. The boys had a very good distribution of space. We did it very well from the start: smart, won a lot of duels, condensed spaces,” said Streich in the ARD interview.
Streich mourns missed opportunities
The defense worked after three league defeats in a row. After the loss of defense chief Matthias Ginter, Freiburg had to line up with a completely new formation. With Yannik Keitel, a midfielder moved into the central position in the three-man chain. The 24-year-old did a good job, and Streich also said he had a “top performance”.
In contrast to the discouraged performance in the 0:3 in Dortmund, the Breisgauer team improved in all areas. The sports club only had a problem at the end. “We played forward very constructively, but didn’t score a goal. Of course you have to score at least one, if not two goals from these chances,” said Streich. Roland Sallai only hit the crossbar, Maximilian Eggestein failed from close range.
SC Freiburg: First Eintracht, then Lens
Instead of going into the second leg next week (February 22nd, 6:45 p.m.) with a lead, everything is still open. “Now it’s 0-0, Lens is a top team. If we had won 1-0 or 2-0, they would have been under extreme pressure and would have had to open up,” said Streich.
Ultimately, satisfaction prevailed for the 58-year-old. “I don’t want to complain. The team did everything today and also played football. We found solutions that were good, that were clear. They just played.”
The sports club continues on Sunday with the Bundesliga home game against Eintracht Frankfurt (February 17th, 3:30 p.m.). Next Thursday RC Lens will be at the Europa Park Stadium in the fight for a place in the round of 16.
Broadcast on Friday, February 16, 2024 6:00 a.m., SWR Aktuell in the morning, SWR Aktuell