The playing conditions were ideal, and the team performed well for long stretches of the game, but Saturday’s match was a disappointing affair for everyone associated with SC Freiburg.

SC’s coaching staff made four changes to the starting XI from last Sunday’s loss against Union Berlin – some forced, others not. Noah Atubolu was out with a shoulder injury, so Florian Müller took his spot between the sticks. Lukas Kübler and Jordy Makengo were preferred to Kiliann Sildillia and Christian Günther at left- and right-back, while Junior Adamu started in place of Michael Gregoritsch up front.

Nico Schlotterbeck and Yan Couto missed out for BVB through suspension, with Niklas Süle also absent due to hip complaints. As a result, the visitors had to improvise in defence, opting for a five-man backline just as they had done in their 3-1 victory over 1. FSV Mainz 05 last week – something that the Dortmund fans aren’t too accustomed to. Top scorer Serhou Guirassy also made his return to the squad following recent injury issues.

The Guinea international watched on from the sidelines as Freiburg had their first chance eight minutes into the match. After some nice build-up play, Patrick Osterhage cut the ball back to Vincenzo Grifo in the box but the midfielder’s shot was blocked at the last moment. At the other end of the pitch, Daniel Svensson tested Florian Müller with a header from Julian Ryerson’s cross (9’).

Hectic opening stages

The 34,700 fans at the Europa-Park Stadion witnessed an exciting start to the match, with a few Freiburg chances that are sure to have had their pulses racing. Around the quarter-of-an-hour mark, the ball was at Osterhage’s feet again who played a fantastic pass in behind to Jordy Makengo. The left-back bore down on goal and squared the ball to Junior Adamu, but the attacker didn’t connect well enough with his strike and it flew wide of the post. Makengo was standing in an offside position when he received the pass anyway, and the linesman raised his flag when the ball went out of play.

Three minutes later, SCF appealed for two penalties in quick succession - one for a possible handball from Rami Bensebaini, and the other shortly after that for Daniel Svensson’s tackle on Ritsu Doan. Both shouts were waved away by the referee, though.

Despite the early promise shown by SCF, it would be Niko Kovac’s side to break the deadlock in the 34th minute. After Ryerson’s cross, the ball found Pascal Groß on the edge of the box. The midfielder’s shot took a deflection off Maximilian Beier and ended up at Karim Adeyemi’s feet. The Germany international manoeuvred his way into space and gave Müller no chance, smashing the ball past SCF’s keeper from close range to give his side the lead going into the break.

Doan with a huge chance after the break

Freiburg had an opportunity to get back on level terms directly after the restart. 20 seconds had elapsed in the second half when a header from Lucas Höler found Doan. The winger stood unmarked in front of goal and managed to get a shot off. Gregor Kobel was quick on his feet, though, rushing out to make the save and preserve BVB’s lead. “We were in the game. I was completely on board with the team’s performance up until the 50th minute. At half-time, we believed that we could come away with something,” said Julian Schuster in his post-match press conference.

Luck just wasn’t on SC’s side. After 52 minutes, promising Dortmund midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka tried his luck from around 20 yards out. His rather harmless shot took a deflection off Philipp Lienhart and ballooned over a helpless Müller to make it 2-0 to the visitors. A couple of minutes later, Adamu squandered the opportunity to get one back at the other end of the pitch, as his close-range effort was saved by Kobel. Shortly afterwards, Höler fired wide on the turn after being set up by Grifo (56’).

Saturday marked Matthias Ginter’s 375th Bundesliga appearance. The centre-back now ranks among the top 100 most-capped players in the top division of German football. Of all current players, only Thomas Müller has more than the SCF player, but the landmark game would end up being one to forget for Ginter and his side.

In the 68th minute, Chukwuemeka played a pass in behind for Julian Brandt who coolly squared the ball to substitute Serhou Guirassy directly in front of the Freiburg goal. The striker poked the ball into the empty net to extend Dortmund’s advantage. Ten minutes later, another BVB substitute would have their say and put the game out of the host’s reach. Jamie Gittens nodded Ryerson’s cross home from close range, making it 4-0 to the away side. The only Freiburg goal of the afternoon would come ten minutes later in the dying embers of the match. Ritsu Doan found Maximilian Eggestein who scored a consolation goal. It was still 4-1 to Dortmund when the referee brought the game to a close. “I think that scoring the goal was still important. The final result doesn’t reflect our performance today,” stated Julian Schuster after the game.

The defeat means that SCF remain on 42 points. They’ll get the next opportunity to add to their haul next Saturday when they travel to Mönchengladbach (15:30 CEST).

Photo: Achim Keller