Freiburg have never won in Leipzig, and even a strong first-half showing couldn’t do anything to change that fact. There were two changes to the starting XI from SCF’s last game, as Niclas Höfler replaced Maximillian Eggestein in central midfield, whilst Max Rosenfelder came in for Matthias Ginter at centre-back. “The pair both showed a good energy in training and deserved to start today,” explained head coach Julian Schuster. SCF began on the front foot and caused their hosts, who appeared nervous, several problems, and the visitors were able to win two corners within the opening five minutes. 

The first real chance came at the Freiburg end after nine minutes, when Leipzig found themselves with lots of space. Lois Openda let fly from inside the penalty box, but the striker was put off both decisively and fairly by Christian Günter. If that was a good chance for the hosts, then Junior Adamu’s opportunity two minutes later was gilt-edged. Ritsu Doan looped the ball into the Austrian’s path before Adamu put it wide of Peter Gulacsi’s goal. A lively game was developing – shortly after, RBL had another good chance, but Noah Atubolu saved well (13’). 

Deserved opener through Doan, Atubolu strong in goal

SCF took the lead in Leipzig after 15 minutes, and deservedly so, given the neat passes they were stringing together as well as the courageous nature of their performance against a side who had only conceded two goals in the league so far. Vincenzo Grifo crossed it into the area from the corner of the penalty box towards the oncoming Doan, who got in behind Benjamin Henrichs and headed into the net to make it 1-0. SCF were playing a much more active role in the game than their hosts, as the next chance fell to Lukas Kübler in the 20th minute. The full-back got onto the end of Grifo’s free kick before heading goalwards, but his effort was ultimately collected by Gulacsi. The hosts were allowing SCF an unbelievable amount of space in front of their own box and were struggling to conjure up anything in attack themselves, because the visitors were getting up in their face and into the tackle early on in the Leipzig attacks, which caused the home side to make several misplaced passes. The home crowd made their discontent with their team’s performance thus far heard around the half-hour mark. 

Günter would then almost score an identical goal to the one he netted against Augsburg last time out. After getting on the end of a flick-on, the SCF skipper only narrowly missed the target with his 20-yard effort from the left-hand side (31’). Three minutes later, Doan nodded it into Eren Dinkci’s path, whose effort from 22 yards out wasn’t far out either and nearly doubled Freiburg’s advantage. Everyone on the SCF team was visibly enjoying the afternoon: there were lots of chances being created in attack, the midfield and defence remained resolute through strong tackling, whilst Atubolu was doing everything asked of him in goal. He made two strong reactionary saves against Benjamin Sesko in short succession (36’, 38’). The keeper first emerged victorious from a one-on-one situation, and shortly afterwards he was on hand to tip the Slovenian’s header over the bar. Despite all this enjoyment, Freiburg’s lead was slim, and RBL gave SC several reminders of their attacking flair in the final minutes of the first half. Christoph Baumgartner went close with a header (42’), but Atubolu was equal to it. “We deserved to take the lead and defended well in the first half. But Leipzig have a lot of quality, and it was clear that they were going to come into the game,” commented Günter after full time.

Equaliser straight after kick-off

It was an unfortunate start for SCF after the break, as RB Leipzig virtually scored from the kick-off. After crossing in from the left, Willi Orban got the decisive touch to bring the scores level (47’). Just like at the end of the first half, more was being asked of the SCF defence, but there were also chances at the other end for the visitors. Grifo tested RBL goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoort, who had come on for the injured Gulacsi, with a long-range effort and then with a free kick from a central position (51’, 52’). Next, Doan headed towards goal from Günter’s cross but could only find the side netting (57’). 

Despite it being a tight game, Leipzig then found a way to score a second. Lutsharel Geertruida was afforded too much space in the box, and Atubolu could do nothing to stop the full-back's shot (58’). The hosts had now properly found their footing in the game, were stable at the back and remained threatening in attack. Meanwhile, SCF didn’t have as much space as they had enjoyed in the first 45 minutes, as Florent Muslija came on for Vincenzo Grifo in the 72nd minute. The substitute tried to get his side back into it, but the winger’s shot was plucked out of the air by Vandevoort. Leipzig were happy to let SCF come on to them, as the away side lacked precision with their final pass or shot. 

Then, Leipzig did what they do well, as Openda finished off a counterattack to make it 3-1 in the 79th minute. Even after scoring their third, the home side dropped deep into their own half, surrendered possession to SCF, but this did not result in any good chances for Schuster’s side. There was only one final opportunity of note in the 90th minute, as Michael Gregoritsch headed it on to Matthias Ginter, whose eventual effort rather mirrored a clearance than a shot on goal. A Leipzig player then intervened to foil SCF’s last real chance. “We fought until the final whistle, but at the end of the day, we have to take this bitter defeat,” summarised the SCF captain. 

Despite the tough loss, head coach Schuster found some positives words for his team: “Today, it was important to me to see courage and belief in our own ability, and I absolutely saw that, so I’m somewhat pleased. We managed to create chances through some nice build-up play. Of course, when you play against a team with such quality, sometimes you can’t defend everything.”

Photo: Susann Friedrich