Our next opponents: Freiburg now fully focused on Bundesliga

Position

Freiburg’s Europa League journey was brought to a shuddering halt at the London Stadium as 2,500 travelling fans saw their team brushed aside 5-0, despite having won the first leg 1-0. They continuously cheered on their team, who had reached the round of 16 in the competition the previous year before going out to Juventus. “Such a reaction isn’t a given, quite the opposite. It’s really extraordinary with us,” said captain Christian Günter of the supporters’ backing after the defeat. Coach Christian Streich didn’t want to be too harsh in his judgement of the squad. “I didn’t feel like West Ham played us off the park for 90 minutes. The game didn’t go well for us, and they showed their individual quality. That’s why the result ended up so high, unfortunately.” Freiburg had 61 percent possession and managed only one shot fewer than the hosts in London.

Freiburg immediately turned their attentions to the next game in the Bundesliga, where the Black Forest club ended a six-game winless run last weekend. Maximilian Eggestein and Michael Gregoritsch both scored in the 2-1 victory away at Bochum, backing up the previous week’s 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich. Starting Matchday 26 in eighth place, Freiburg now want to give the league leaders a test at the Europa-Park Stadion. “We need to gather our strength,” said captain Günter looking ahead to hosting Leverkusen. “We can make life tough for every team and will put up full resistance on Sunday. It’ll be a full house. What could be better than playing against the league leaders?”

Personnel

Eggestein has started all 25 Bundesliga fixtures so far this season, with goalkeeper Noah Atubolu the only other player to do so. However, the midfielder won’t feature this weekend as the 27-year-old serves a one-game ban for accumulation of five yellow cards. Merlin Röhl is likely to take his place after coming off the bench in the last two. The 21-year-old is Freiburg’s second-best provider this season with four assists, behind Vincenzo Grifo (eight).

The hosts will still be without defender Kenneth Schmidt (abdominals), while Daniel-Kofi Kyereh is not yet back after his cruciate ligament tear. Centre-back Philipp Lienhart was in the squad against West Ham for the first time since his groin injury and is an option at the back.

Performers

Freiburg are usually a real threat from set pieces, scoring 16 goals as a result this season, which is joint-third across the division together with Bayer 04. The likes of Gregoritsch are also a danger in the air, contributing to nine headed goals, while only conceding four as a result – both are league bests. Much of Freiburg’s attacking play comes from out wide through set-piece expert Grifo and Japanese playmaker Ritsu Doan. Grifo is the team’s top outlet with seven goals (six penalties) and eight assists. The Italy international set up Manuel Gulde’s header in the 2-1 defeat in Leverkusen. Alongside Grifo, there’s Lucas Höler (seven goals), Gregoritsch (five) and Roland Sallai (three) who have accounted for two thirds of Freiburg’s league goals this season. The Black Forest club also boast three defenders in Matthias Ginter, Gulde and Lukas Kübler who rank in the top 20 for challenges won.

Problems

However, Freiburg have the leakiest defence in the Bundesliga since the halfway point of the season with 19 goals conceded. In total they have let in 45 from 25 games, which is already one more than in the entire 2022/23 campaign. A solid defence has been the foundation for much of their success in recent years, finishing sixth in 2021/22 and then fifth last term. On both occasions they were in the top five for best defensive records. Streich’s side have been particularly susceptible on the counter, conceding a league-high 10 goals as a result, while also failing to score a single one of their own on the break. They have been very leaky in the final 15 minutes of games, conceding 11 times – only Borussia Mönchengladbach have shipped more goals in the closing stage (12).

Prediction

Although the disappointment of Thursday’s Europa League exit will be great, Freiburg need to find their feet again. Last weekend’s win in Bochum could well give them a push domestically for this final portion of the season. They are also still very much in with a chance of qualifying for Europe next season, especially with their attentions now solely on the Bundesliga for the rest of this campaign. If they can shore things up a bit at the back, perhaps we’ll be seeing Freiburg on the continental stage again in 2024/25.