It was an unchanged Freiburg team, which has had success in recent weeks, who started the third group stage match of their Europa League campaign. However, the SC fans in attendance, who welcomed the teams onto the pitch with rapturous applause, saw a slightly different sstup in the SCF dugout. Head coach Christian Streich has contracted Corona, and so Patrick Baier and Julian Schuster took charge of the side for the evening. Florian Bruns also tested positive for COVID, and Lars Vossler, who had previously been infected but has since recovered, was able to return to the video analysis team in the stands. 

“Christian Streich gave the team a message before the game began, and there were a couple of phone calls during the match,” Patrick Baier discussed how communication was managed between present and absent coaches. 

Baier and Schuster, two long-serving coaches of SCF, saw Michael Gregoritsch get the first real chance of the game after just three minutes when his close-range effort was saved by Nantes keeper Albert Lafont. It was after three minutes when the Austrian put Freiburg 1-0 up against Mainz last weekend. That was the last proper opportunity for a while in what was a cagey opening phase of the game. Nantes, who are currently 16th in Ligue 1, certainly set their focus on their defending in the first stages of the fixture and closed down the spaces well. 

Gregoritsch forced to come off 

It wasn’t until the 22nd minute before Philip Lienhart took Freiburg’s next shot on goal, as he tried to head home from Christian Günter’s corner. By this point, SCF’s top scorer Michael Gregoritsch had already left the pitch. After trying to get a shot away, Gregoritsch took a blow to the pelvis, and despite trying to continue, he needed to be substituted off after 20 minutes, with Nils Petersen coming on in his place. 

Nantes suffered a 4-1 defeat to AS Monaco on Sunday and with just seven points from their opening nine league matches, they’ve made a poor start to the 2022/23 Ligue 1 season. Antoine Kombouare's side have had better fortunes in the Europa League, though, winning against Olympiakos and proving tonight, supported by approximately 2,000 travelling fans, that it was no coincidence that they qualified for this competition. 

The ‘Canary Birds’ were well organised, strong in the tackle and temporarily controlled the game after the half-hour mark. However, it was the hosts who continued to have the chances, with Alban Lafont having to pull out a top save to keep out Daniel-Kofi Kyereh’s deflected shot (32’).  

Missing that final bit of precision 

Freiburg’s efficiency in front of goal, which had been strong in all competitions so far this season, was lacking somewhat in this game, at least in the first half. Freiburg made life difficult for themselves in the final third, which explains why Christian Günter’s long-distance shot in the 40th minute was SCF’s final noteworthy effort before the break. 

“It was a bit more difficult than we had anticipated, and it was difficult to find the balance. You’re always in danger of being caught out on the counter, but we defended them well as a group,” Patrick Baier seemed satisfied after the final whistle despite a difficult first half. 

Kyereh scores and takes flight 

One reason why Baier was so satisfied after full-time was because SCF came out for the second half with real energy. Ritsu Doan made the most of a misplaced pass by Nantes’ Spanish midfielder Pedro Chirivella and won the ball before playing it to Daniel-Kofi Kyereh, who got his first European goal for SC just five days after opening his Bundesliga account. As good as the finish was, it was supplemented by a graceful backflip as the 26-year-old acrobatically celebrated giving the home side the lead. 

Niclas Höfler had already said before the game: “We, as a team, want to show that we can do it without him.” The “him” in this sentence referred to SC head coach Christian Streich, who followed the match from his TV at home, and he would have seen his side continue to get forward after taking the lead. 

Grifo powers in a second 

Individual actions were often needed to try and break down the resolute and disciplined Nantes defence. Patrick Baier commented after the match: “In this case, you had to just do it on your own. The two of them just did what they know to do.” Vincenzo Grifo joined Daniel-Kofi Kyereh on the scoresheet in the 72nd minute with another one of his precise, curled finesse shots from around 13 metres out to make it 2-0. 

The goal didn’t just come as a huge relief for the 33,200 SC fans at the Europa-Park Stadion, but also for Christian Streich and Florian Bruns who were both ‘working from home’, so to speak. 

Petersen misses chance for a third 

After some nice play from Ritsu Doan, Nils Petersen had a good chance to score SCF’s third, but his shot from 16 metres took a slight deflection and went just wide of the post. It would have been a nice way to end the match for SCF, but it perhaps might not have well reflected the game and the performance of the French side. 2-0 was a more appropriate reflection of the match, and leaves SCF on top of Group G with nine points after three matches. 

Before they head off to Nantes for the return group fixture next Thursday, Freiburg will first travel to the capital on Sunday to face Hertha BSC (kick-off 17:30 CEST). 

Photos: Achim Keller