One of the few highlights for SC Freiburg this afternoon came in the 73rd minute of the match, as captain Christian Günter was able to make his long-awaited comeback from injury in front of a sold-out Europa-Park Stadion. The captain came on for Jordi Makengo amidst a wave of applause after a five-month injury lay-off. "That was a really touching moment. The fans were extremely happy to see him back on the pitch," said head coach Christian Streich afterwards.

The match got off to a rough start for the hosts, as Stuttgart took the lead early on. A long ball from the VfB defence sailed across the pitch and found Deniz Undav, who beat three Freiburg players to open the scoring in the third minute. The striker is currently deputising for the absent Serhou Guirassy, and is his side's top goalscorer in this timeframe.

Just four minutes later, VfB were able to double their advantage. A well-timed pass through the defence found Chris Führich, who quickly made it 2-0. "They are deservedly in third place," Streich had previously said about today's opponents, who showed out on the pitch that they were hungry for more.

Another setback for SC, Kübler cuts the deficit

SC then had a chance to cut the deficit after a free kick from Vincenzo Grifo just missed finding Lukas Kübler at the far post. The hosts were then dealt another setback in the 19th minute, as Merlin Röhl was sent off. The youngster had attempted to win back the ball but was unlucky to instead make contact with his opponent's ankle in a studs-up challenge. After quickly consulting with VAR, referee Daniel Siebert reached into his pocket to brandish a red card.

It was shaping up to be an afternoon to forget for the Breisgau side, who were now down to just 10 men as they attempted to overturn a 2-0 deficit. Asked afterwards about his team's start to the match, Streich said, "If you don't manage to defend a 50-metre-long pass like that straight through the middle of the park, then it's going to come back to bite you. We conceded again and then came the red card. The game was effectively over at that point."

Stuttgart continued to attack, coming close again in the 36th minute as a shot from Enzo Millot went just wide of goal. Leonidas Stergiou then tested Noah Atubolu with an attempt from the edge of the box (39'). VfB were able to use their man advantage to control the game, but SC refused to give up. In the 11th minute of first-half injury time – due to fan protests against the DFL – Kübler was able to nod home a corner from Grifo to put the hosts back in the game. The goal rekindled SC's hopes of being able to complete a comeback, with Maximilian Eggestein saying afterwards, "After our goal, we started to believe in ourselves again."

SC continue to fight, VfB remain in control

SC came out of the half-time break feeling motivated. The Swabians were forced to defend deep in their own half, as Eggestein had a decent opportunity to level the scores in the 51st minute. But, his shot from inside the box only hit the side-netting. Manuel Gulde and Atubolu did well to shut down a dangerous Stuttgart attack just before, with Undav later sending a shot over the bar (55').

The visitors then retook control of the match from the 60th minute on. SC kept looking for ways to attack through Roland Sallai, but quickly found themselves surrounded by VfB players whenever they did have the ball. Günter's substitution in the 73rd minute brought another good chance for the hosts, but his header was straight into the arms of goalkeeper Alexander Nübel.

Stuttgart were then able to make it 3-1, as Maximilian Mittelstädt chipped the ball over Atubolu and into the back of the net from a tight angle. Streich made three attacking changes in the closing stages, bringing on Maximilian Philipp, Noah Weißhaupt and Florent Muslija, along with Michael Gregoritsch. SC continued to fight hard for every ball, despite finding themselves a man and two goals down. But, it was tricky to create good chances on goal when faced with 11 well-organised Stuttgart players. Anthony Rouault kept Gregoritsch's header out on the line (90'+2), while Nübel did well to deny Philipp with a strong save (90'+4).  

"The team did well, despite the poor start. But, it was difficult to be able to come back against a VfB team with so much quality in their ranks," said Streich. Grifo commented afterwards, "We wanted to make the best of the situation after the poor start. We did a decent job of it, and our goal to make it 2-1 gave us some hope and we were able to create chances still. But, their third goal then put the game out of reach."

Photo: Achim Keller