DSC Freiburg’s Twitter administrators couldn’t resist an ironic dig at national soccer player Joshua Kimmich. “Really good actions there even after the end of the game,” read a posted post shortly after the final whistle.
Kimmich, who clenched his fists in his emotional jubilation and made his way to the Freiburg appendix, had the arguments on his side. And the points too. Because Bayern took revenge for losing in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup four days earlier and prevailed 1-0 (0-0) in the Bundesliga in Breisgau on Saturday.
“Mentally and physically strong”
The Freiburg reacted angrily to the scene. “He should be happy about the three points and not provoke the opposing fans,” said Nicolas Höfler. The 33-year-old midfield motor of the sports club was able to overlook this a few moments later, because after all, Freiburg are in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup. Not Kimmich and Bayern.
That’s why pride prevailed in the end. In addition, Höfler and Co. can look forward to two days off in the week before the game at SV Werder Bremen next Sunday (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on DAZN). “The team believed in it until the last minute and we were mentally and physically strong. The players deserve praise,” said SC coach Christian Streich, who believes it is important for his players to regenerate before the groundbreaking weeks.
“It hurts now”
Of course, he and his players would have liked to win their second meeting within a short period of time against the record champions. “But we won in Munich and lost 1-0 at home – that’s almost impossible,” said Streich. A long-range shot by Matthijs de Ligt (51st minute) that was well worth seeing destroyed hopes of a second coup.
“It hurts now,” said recovered defender Philipp Lienhart. “We wanted to score points, but unfortunately that didn’t work out. This is annoying and bitter. But I think the performance was good and we don’t have to be ashamed of how we played.”
Streich knows that “a completely different game awaits us in Bremen, but it won’t be any less emotional there”. He is still annoyed that his team lost a lead in the 1-1 draw at FSV Mainz 05 and at home in the 1-1 draw against Hertha BSC. “Once that would have been fine,” he said, looking at the fight for the European places. “We want to make up for that and win with a very good performance in Bremen.”
Despite the defeat, Freiburg are still on course. And in the final spurt of the season, top player Lienhart is available again for the coach. Manuel Gulde, who had done well recently, has to take a break. The interim Lienhart representative was caught in the duel with Bayern on the thigh.