Streich made two changes to the team that lost 5-0 at VfB Stuttgart last time out. Ritsu Doan and Manuel Gulde replaced Vincenzo Grifo and Kiliann Sildillia in the starting XI. Gulde formed part of the back-three alongside Matthias Ginter and Philipp Lienhart. Junior Adamu made a first-team squad for the first time since joining this summer.

A mistake from Ramy Bensebaini gave SC their first corner after three minutes. Ritsu Doan found Lucas Höler in the middle, but his header was easily saved by Gregor Kobel (4’). At the other end, Matthias Ginter did well to clear a Julian Brandt cross destined for Sébastien Haller (5’).

The opening stages were extremely hectic, with the sixth corner overall coming in just the 11th minute. This one mattered too, as Mats Hummels headed in Brandt’s delivery for 1-0. “It was a basic set-piece goal and an easy header for him,” said Streich on that goal after the game.

“We won a lot of tackles after that and played with real passion,” added the coach. Five minutes after the opening goal, Michael Gregoritsch narrowly missed the chance to level things from Roland Sallai’s cross.

Gregoritsch forced off injured

The Austria international, who scored twice for his country during the recent international break, suffered a calf injury during a goalmouth scramble. He initially carried on, only to be replaced by Vincenzo Grifo in the 28th minute. The Italian was immediately involved and almost provided an assist. His free-kick eventually fell to Lienhart, who hammered it against the post.

Despite an even amount of possession at the end of the first half, SC were struggling to create decent chances. The best one to date came for Ritsu Doan, who missed the target from a decent position after Sallai’s shot was blocked (40’).

Double strike from Freiburg

SC did, however, get back on level terms before the interval. In the third minute of first-half injury time, Grifo sent in a cross from the left wing and Höler brilliantly glanced it on to pick out the bottom corner.

The sides continued on to a seventh minute of additional time and SC were then awarded a free-kick from a dangerous position. Grifo took the dead ball and found Chicco Höfler, who left Kobel with no chance with his header to put SC 2-1 up at the break.

The second half started quietly, until Julian Brandt fired a shot past Atubolu’s goal (54’). SC were able to restrict last season’s runners-up to few chances across the whole game, despite their star-studded attack. Streich commented: “We played good football in the second half – but then it was 2-2 after a mistake.”

BVB subs, Höfler sent off

Dortmund coach Edin Terzic was able to introduce five Germany internationals in Marius Wolf, Felix Nmecha, Niclas Füllkrug, Marco Reus and Youssoufa Moukoko during the second half. New signing Füllkrug flicked the ball through to Malen perfectly and the Dutch forward ran clean through and beat Atubolu (60’).

At the other end, Kobel reacted quickly to block Höler’s powerful effort (70’). Freiburg were forced to play the final eight minutes with 10 men after Nicolas Hölfer was sent off for a studs up challenge on Marcel Sabitzer. Referee Stieler initially gave him a yellow, but changed that to a red after watching the footage again.

The visitors were able to make use of their numerical advantage late on. Mats Hummels scrambled home from a Marco Reus free-kick (88’) and then Reus scored himself in injury time to seal a 4-2 win for BVB (90+2’). “The result is pretty brutal – we were far better than the scoreline suggests,” summed up Streich.

The whole stadium got behind the team after the game, despite the result. Next up is the first group game in the UEFA Europa League away to Olympiacos on Thursday night (21:00 CEST).

Photo: Achim Keller