There was nothing for the Breisgau side to gain on this Saturday afternoon against a Stuttgart side in full flow. In the first half, three set-pieces directly or indirectly led to the ball hitting the back of the SC net, leaving them with too much to do.

The Freiburg coaching staff had to go without goalkeeper Noah Atubolu, who was ruled out due to illness and replaced by Florian Müller. Additionally, Patrick Osterhage and Junior Adamu were brought into the starting line-up in place of Eren Dinkçi and Lucas Höler. This meant the starting XI was almost identical to the team that had secured a 3-1 victory over VfB in the first half of the season, except for Philipp Lienhart, who was back in the squad but initially started on the bench. He watched on as Matthias Ginter and Max Rosenfelder were tasked with central-defensive duties.

Just two minutes into the match, Stuttgart's Nick Woltemade received the ball in Freiburg's penalty area, created space and forced Müller into a brilliant save with a shot on the turn. Unfortunately, VfB capitalised on the resulting corner to take an early lead, just as they had in the reverse fixture. Angelo Stiller delivered a cross into the centre, where the onrushing Anthony Rouault headed the ball powerfully into the net from 10 yards out.

Shortly after down the other end, a set-piece also led to a goal, but Max Rosenfelder's header only brought brief jubilation to the roughly 5,000 traveling SC fans. The central defender was offside when Vincenzo Grifo's free-kick was delivered (4').

Demirović doubles the lead for VfB

In the opening phase, Freiburg struggled to maintain possession for extended periods. VfB played directly and efficiently, frequently using Woltemade as a target man, who distributed the ball with his back to goal.

After 17 minutes, following a corner, Stiller had too much time on the right-hand edge of the penalty area to cross the ball with his stronger left foot. The delivery found Ermedin Demirović, who gave Müller no chance with a header to make it 2-0. Just three minutes later, Matthias Ginter, struggling with an injury, also had to leave the field, compounding a tough opening phase for the Breisgau side. Philipp Lienhart came on as his replacement.

“That was obviously not a good afternoon for us. We had envisioned things differently. We fell behind too early and conceded goals too easily,” said Julian Schuster after the match.

The first half didn’t improve much from there for SC: a shot from Demirović was blocked at the last moment after Enzo Millot set him up with a header, but just a minute later, the former Freiburg player did find the back of the net, this time heading home from a Jamie Leweling cross (29'). However, to the surprise of the 60,000 fans in the sold-out MHP Arena, the video assistant intervened, and Demirović was ruled offside during the build-up, keeping the visitors’ deficit at two goals.

In the closing stages of the first half, SC managed to create a few offensive sparks, although a shot by Ritsu Doan following a promising counterattack was blocked by the thigh of VfB captain Atakan Karazor. At the other end, Rosenfelder accidentally caught Leweling's foot while trying to clear a corner, resulting in a penalty. Woltemade converted from 12 yards to make it 3-0 on the stroke of half time (45+5’).

Undav adds the final goal

Schuster’s side emerged from the break unchanged. In the 53rd minute, Merlin Röhl narrowly missed the target with a shot from 20 yards, fizzing just a few feet past Alexander Nübel's goal. Sebastian Hoeneß’s team dropped back more in the second half compared to the first, allowing Freiburg more space to create chances, and Ameen Al-Dakhil blocked Doan’s effort from range with his head (66’).

The Freiburg coaching team made attacking substitutions during the second half, bringing on the likes of Eren Dinkçi, Michael Gregoritsch, and Lucas Höler. However, the only goal of the second half was scored by the hosts. Substitute Chris Führich burst through on the left, before finding another substitute, Deniz Undav. His deflected shot from just over 20 yards out nestled in the back of the net, wrapping up a 4-0 win for the hosts after 80 minutes.

“The disappointment for both me and the team is enormous. Still, it’s important to see how we react in moments like these. Do we just act as if it didn’t happen? That’s not what I want. I expect everyone to take responsibility in the coming days,” said Julian Schuster at the post-match press conference.

SC Freiburg are back in action next Saturday, 25th January, welcoming FC Bayern München to the Europa-Park Stadion (15:30 CET).

Photo: Achim Keller