In the neighborhood duel
© Imago
A Derby victory for the Europa League start: SC Freiburg has won the cross-border neighborhood duel with FC Basel and celebrated a successful start in the league. The Baden Bundesliga club beat the Swiss champion and cup winner 2-1 (1-0). The goals in front of 34,700 spectators scored the midfielder Patrick Osterhage (31st minute) and Maximilian Eggestein (57th). The connecting goal by the substitute Philip Otele (84th) came too late for the guests.
The two cities separate less than an hour’s drive. The fans of both teams had been looking forward to the game for a long time. The big spectacle failed. A solid appearance for the third competitive game in a row was sufficient for the SC.
“Attack” was on a large choreography in the Freiburg fan block, behind which the followers also burned up plenty of pyrotechnics. But there was little to see from brisk attacks on both sides. A header from Basel’s Albian Ajeti, the SC keeper Noah Atubolu parried (2nd), remained the only notable chance of scoring of the partly torn game for a long time.
Freiburg’s leadership was also not exactly played out, but Julian Schuster shouldn’t care about his European Cup premiere as head coach. The guests clarified the ball in front of the feet of Osterhage – and it hit the lower corner with a placed shot.
The hit gave the Breisgauer noticeably security. They worked out more and more game shares, Johan Manzambi missed another chance before the break after a cross from Niklas Beste (38.).
And Basel? Remained largely pale. Key player Xherdan Shaqiri tried to tear the helm. But the former professional of FC Bayern Munich only managed to a limited extent. Freiburg’s defense, in which Anthony Jung represented the missing Philipp Lienhart due to illness, rarely got into trouble before Junior Zé suddenly failed from a few meters on Atubolu (45.).
Freiburg’s defense chief Matthias Ginter, who had collided with team -mate Lukas Kübler in added time in the first half of the first half, also had to be treated on the head at the beginning of the second section. The 31-year-old was able to continue playing-and was allowed to cheer just a few minutes later. Eggestein met 2-0 after a cross from Vincenzo Grifo. Basel’s goalkeeper Mirko Salvi still parried the ball, but only behind the line.
As a result, the SC, who welcomes TSG Hoffenheim in the league on Sunday, played quite confidently. Basel, next week opponent of VfB Stuttgart, remained too harmless for a long time. Otele made it exciting again with a nice Schlenzer, but it was not enough for the guests.