These opponents are possible
©IMAGO
VfB Stuttgart missed out on direct entry into the round of 16 of the Europa League despite a late win, while SC Freiburg achieved it despite their first defeat. The second round pairings will be drawn on Friday (1:00 p.m.) at UEFA headquarters in Nyon. Given the format of the competition, there are only two possible opponents for the Swabians: VfB can face Celtic Glasgow or Ludogorets Razgrad.
The tournament tree for the eight round of 16 teams has already been determined: Freiburg in seventh place will face a team from the playoff participants KRC Genk, FC Bologna, Dinamo Zagreb or Brann Bergen. The teams in ninth and tenth place in the table will meet the 23rd and 24th in the playoffs, and the respective winners will then play against seventh place, i.e. Sport-Club, or eighth place, AS Roma.
Despite the win against Bern: VfB Stuttgart has to go to the playoffs
The obligation to win was fulfilled, but the little football miracle didn’t happen: Despite a 3:2 (2:1) thanks to a last-minute goal in the preliminary round final of the Europa League against Young Boys Bern, VfB Stuttgart has to take the detour via the playoffs. However, the necessary support for the theoretically still possible direct entry into the round of 16 did not materialize.
The Stuttgart team clearly dominated the game against initially weak guests and, after a furious start, had already scored twice after less than seven minutes. But thanks to the double strike from the offensive duo Deniz Undav (6th minute) and Ermedin Demirovic (7th), the Swabians regained their lead after missed opportunities and negligence in defense.
In the second half it looked like a setback before Chema Andrés completed their fourth home win in their fourth appearance in front of their own crowd in this Europa League season in the 90th minute. Ex-Kiel player Armin Gigovic (42nd) and Sandro Lauper (57th) had equalized for Bern.
0-1 in Lille: SC Freiburg defends its way into the round of 16
Despite a defeat, SC Freiburg moves straight into the round of 16 without going through the intermediate round. At the end of the league phase, coach Julian Schuster’s team lost 0-1 (0-0) at LOSC Lille. The result was still enough to maintain a place among the top eight teams. A penalty from Olivier Giroud (90+2) sealed the late defeat.
Even before kick-off, it was clear that one point would be enough for the Bundesliga club to skip the playoffs and thus gain two free weeks. Given the triple pressure of the league, Europa League and DFB Cup, it was understandable that the guests chose a defensive approach. However, this was so defensive that they remained completely harmless throughout the entire game. But Lille didn’t act much more forcefully out of the game – despite having the majority in the final phase after the red card for Maximilian Eggestein (74th). Due to the results of the competition, the defeat had no consequences.
