Christian Streich talked to the referee and didn’t agree with the denied goal, but his players still enjoyed the tingling atmosphere in front of their own fans.
Even if there was no surprise from the big favorites Juventus Turin, the chances of reaching the quarter-finals in the Europa League are still possible. World champion Ángel Di María made the difference in the 0:1 (0:0) in the first leg. The Argentine was the most conspicuous man on the pitch and scored the decisive goal in the 53rd minute.
Equalizer denied
The Badeners showed a courageous, offensive, but harmless performance over long stretches. Your supposed compensation by Lucas Höler (62nd) was denied because of a previous handball. Nevertheless, the starting position of the SC before the second leg against Italy’s record champions in the coming week is still passable.
“It was handball, not intentional. The ball jumps from half a meter on my arm. I don’t check it anymore anyway, I have no idea,” Ginter described the scene when the goal was denied and added: “We didn’t get out of the game created so many chances. The place was there, but the last punch was missing. Nevertheless, we played well away from home.”
The national player is “optimistic” about the second leg, Vincenzo Grifo had a similar view: “0-1 is not such a bad starting position because we know that we are good at home.”
2100 Freiburg fans in the stadium
Christian Streich remained true to himself in the biggest international game in the Freiburg club’s history. Wearing a jacket and pullover instead of a fine designer suit, the long-time successful coach stood on the sidelines, and his team acted just as calmly in the lively atmosphere in the Juventus Stadium, which was packed with 37,474 spectators. Freiburg showed no fear of the big names around the whirling attacking star Di María, even if it got uncomfortable at times – like right at the beginning.
The SC was supported by around 2100 supporters. It would have been far more if the Italians hadn’t canceled the tickets that Freiburg fans had organized through a short-term Juve membership. In the end, smaller SC fan groups also found themselves outside of the guest area.
Juventus under high pressure
The 36-time Italian champions just didn’t want an away game at home, after all, the Europa League is now the most important competition this season. Because after the 15-point deduction in Serie A due to financial tricks, the premier class in the coming season as currently seventh in the table can probably only be reached by winning the Europa League.
In the course of the first half, Turin also put a lot of pressure on. SC keeper Mark Flekken (13′) was lucky when French vice world champion Adrien Rabiot had a chance, but the free-kicks by Juan Cuadrado (19′) and Dusan Vlahovic (25′) weren’t a big test. Things got dicey when Flekken ran under a sharp corner from Di María, but the Brazilian Bremer missed the lead with a header (31′).
Freiburg offensive too harmless
Only towards the end of the first half did the Bundesliga fifth manage to relieve the pressure and sometimes have longer periods of possession before Cuadrado tested Flekken again (45+1).
But the Italians didn’t give up and gave the Freiburg back line hard work. The Juve actions were often too imprecise until ex-Frankfurt Filip Kostic appeared. The Serb prepared the opening goal with a fine cross to Di María. Streich reacted, brought in two new players and suddenly Freiburg were celebrating. Höler scored the supposed equalizer with the first shot on goal. But the goal was taken back because Matthias Ginter had previously touched the ball with his hands.