After a furious comeback against RC Lens, SC Freiburg is in the round of 16 of the Europa League. Roland Sallai and Michael Gregoritsch were the heroes of the evening.
It was one of those “magical” European Cup nights – with a happy ending for SC Freiburg. After RC Lens had taken the lead after two mistakes from Noah Atubolu and Manuel Gulde by David Costa (28th) and Elye Wahi (45th + 2), Roland Sallai was able to score the Breisgauer with a brace (67th & 90th + 3rd). ) still shoot into extra time. There, substitute Michael Gregoritsch shot SC Freiburg into the round of 16 of the Europa League (99th).
SC Freiburg with serious mistakes
The first half was characterized by hesitation from Freiburg and mistakes on both sides. The Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu punched a ball after a harmless free kick directly at the feet of the Portuguese David Costa, who was able to easily make it 0-1 (28th). Shortly before the break, Manuel Gulde was the last man in a rather half-hearted duel with Lens striker Elye Wahi. He evaded the 33-year-old veteran and lobbed the ball over Atubolu into the goal (45th + 2).
On the other hand, Facundo Medinas tested his own goalkeeper with a risky chest return. Brice Samba was just able to direct the ball onto the post (33′).
Freiburg comes out of the break more offensively
Because after the 0:2 at the break, coach Christian Streich had to react. He brought on striker Michael Gregoritsch and winger Noah Weißhaupt for defenders Kiliann Sildillia and Jordy Makengo. At first without much success, because apart from a long-range shot from Lukas Kübler (51′), not much came of it.
Then the turning point came – strangely enough, due to another setback: When Merlin Röhl entered the penalty area at speed and was roughly cleared by the Uzbek Abdukodir Khusanov, the Slovenian referee Rade Obrenovic denied the Breisgauers a clear penalty kick (61st).
Refused penalty becomes the initial spark for Freiburg
However, it seemed to have been something of an initial spark. Because with the push of frustration, Freiburg suddenly had opportunities. Ritsu Doan first hit the side netting after a pass from Röhl (63′), and just four minutes later Roland Sallai scored the goal he was longing for.
With his brace, Roland Sallai sent SC Freiburg into extra time against RC Lens in the Europa League.
IMAGO / Beautiful Sports
Freiburg pushed for an equalizer – and almost succeeded a few minutes later. But first Kübler failed with his powerful shot past goalkeeper Samba (72′), and after the resulting corner, Gregoritsch headed centimeters over the goal. In the final phase, Gregoritsch aimed more precisely, but Samba directed the ball over the goal with his fingertips (89′). In stoppage time, it was Sallai again who hammered the ball into the Lens goal for the deserved equalizer (90th + 3). Gregoritsch almost scored the winning goal in regular time, but a header went a few centimeters over the French goal.
Freiburg’s redemption after 99 minutes
The Austrian had to wait until the 99th minute for the winning goal: After Atubolu’s long shot, the ball came to Sallai via Höler. Although he let the ball slip through, his duel took Massadio Haidara, who was running with him, out of the game. Gregoritsch picked up the ball and just had to push it into the empty goal. It was the goal for the round of 16. “It’s crazy! You can’t describe it like that, you have to experience it,” said the winning goal scorer. “This is really something we can live on for a long time. Something we can talk about for a long time. A wonderful evening.”
In the Bundesliga, the Breisgauers have to face FC Augsburg on Sunday (from 7:30 p.m. live in the audio stream on Sportschau.de). Things will get exciting again in the Europa League on Friday. Then the round of 16 of the Europa League will be drawn from 12 noon. There SC Freiburg will face one of the eight group leaders in the Europa League preliminary round (West Ham United, Brighton & Hove Albion, Glasgow Rangers, Atalanta Bergamo, Liverpool FC, Villarreal FC, Slavia Prague and Bayer Leverkusen – Leverkusen falls in the round of 16 -Opponents gone, however, as the Werkself come from the same association). The round of 16 will be played on March 7th and 14th.