SC Freiburg has to do an extra round: the weak Breisgauer clearly missed the necessary three points for direct entry into the round of 16 of the Europa League in the “final” for group victory at West Ham United.
The Bundesliga club lost 2-0 (0-2) to the Premier League club and, as second in the table, has to play against a relegated team from the premier class in the second round.
Mohammed Kudus (14th) and Edson Alvarez (42nd) scored for the Conference League winners from London. Before the game, the SC was level on points with the Londoners – both teams had already secured their place in the European Cup over the winter. In the fight for first place in the group, Freiburg would have needed a win after the 1:2 in the first leg due to the direct comparison.
Coach Christian Streich’s team has to play against a third-placed team from the Champions League on February 15th and 22nd. The pairings will be drawn on Monday. A direct entry into the round of 16 would have brought the Freiburg team almost three million euros into their coffers, so they have to be content with 1.7 million.
In front of around 45,000 spectators, Freiburg were lucky early on when Hammers striker Lucas Paqueta hit the crossbar (5th). Shortly afterwards, Kudus didn’t have to be asked twice when he appeared completely free in front of SC goalkeeper Noah Atubolu.
The Freiburgers, who traveled to the island with the tailwind of three competitive game wins in a row, did not take the offensive. With the narrow deficit after half an hour, the guests were well served. The Breisgauers acted far too fearfully and showed major weaknesses in defense – the second goal conceded before the break was logical.
Things didn’t get any better in the second round. Freiburg, who had to do without central defender Philipp Lienhart, could have conceded more goals in the first ten minutes. It was only after around an hour that the SC had a good phase.
The eighth-placed team in the Bundesliga, who will face 1. FC Köln in the league on Sunday, had no real chance to score even after 70 minutes. It wasn’t until the 75th minute that Ritsu Doan caused danger for the first time.