After the 3-3 draw of his side against Bayer Leverkusen, Julian Schuster faced the press conference as calmly and as composed as the Swabian verbal stoic always does. Those who had watched him earlier in Freiburg’s game, in which he had logged several kilometers in the closing phase despite complete disregard for the coaching zone, would still be surprised.
Moreover, colleague Kesper Hjulmand appeared factual and calm as well. His Leverkusen team had contributed to a high-class match, but over 90 minutes did not give the impression that it would be an easy task to push into the Champions League ranks. “That was a great game from both teams,” said the only moderately satisfied Hjulmand. “In the last 20 minutes we defended and played without dominance.”
With the Sportclub, however, this entertaining afternoon leaves far more behind than just a barren points haul. Namely the realization that this team can do more than just defend with great consistency. In recent months there had already been doubts in this regard. In most games, the SC Freiburg focused on ball control and defensive stability, but avoided taking any offensive risk.
I tried it with my left foot, then my other foot was in the way
Vincenzo Grifo, SC Freiburg, explains a goal
Exactly that seems to have been questioned in the past days, revealed captain Christian Günter: “We have been very self-critical. It is our goal to take a footballing step forward. And now we could really train intensively.” Vincenzo Grifo also seemed genuinely delighted about the “approach we want” and the “not having been so successful for us in recent times.”
Indeed, the Sportclub, which is still active in three competitions, has for months often not only calmly but also successfully played a competitive fixture every few days and spends almost as much time in airports as in training. For a club that already in Christian Streich’s days (“Übsch, übsch, übsch”) believed in the controllability of things, that may at least be one reason for the remarkable metamorphosis of this team from the high-security collective to the exhilarated outfit: since mid-February there has been plenty of time to practice.
Against Leverkusen, early ball recoveries nonetheless kept coming. And then it began. The attacks let the ball circulate and indeed had the opponent’s penalty area as the target of their efforts. Grifo, Niklas Beste or Yuito Suzuki are not the only ball-playing Freiburg players in this well-assembled side, who would actually feel it to be a burden to have to think defensively as often as in the past.
On Saturday they were unleashed. Grifo’s 1-0 was neatly worked (34.), and the second came from a brilliant sequence of play that Suzuki converted to make it 2-1, because Matanović allowed Niklas Beste’s cross to pass with plenty of awareness (43%). “The second goal was very special,” also thought coach Schuster. He was impressed “by how we managed to play from the back to the front and refine it.” The header by Matthias Ginter (86.) then equalized Freiburg’s strong late phase and canceled out Leverkusen’s goals by Christian Kofane (37.), Alejandro Grimaldo (45.+3) and Martin Terrier (52.). Freiburg’s keeper Noah Atubolo had positioned himself in the far corner before Grimaldo’s free kick and left the near post to the right-back Philipp Treu. Treu then dashed from the goal line to the wall and back. Just before the ball dipped directly over him, because the attempt to distract Grimaldo had rather unsettled his own goalkeeper.
About the curious concession after the match, however, there was only a brief discussion, and the general criticism of the enigmatically yellow-carded Grimaldo toward the local referees (“These referees are really bad”) did not really echo. How could it, when on the other side Grifo, this “great guy and team player” (captain Günter) finally scored his 105th competitive goal for SC, tying Nils Petersen.
That the 104 previous goals had come about in a planned fashion, he was happy to admit: “I tried it with my left foot, then my other foot was in the way; only then could the ball sink past the goalkeeper and go in,” the jubilarian explained, his nose always a little wrinkled when he gets mischievous. The message he wanted to deliver after this great game, however, was completely straightforward: “We can hurt any team if we give everything today.”
