Qin Youxia, Special Correspondent for Sports Weekly All-Media
After Bayern was eliminated from the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain, Freiburg lived up to everyone's expectations by virtue of being the only outstanding team in the Bundesliga's European competition. They defeated Braga 3-1 in the second leg of the Europa League semi-finals and achieved a reversal with a total score of 4-3 to advance. From participating in the Europa League top 8 and top 4 competitions to opening the door to the Istanbul finals, the Black Foresters have continuously set new records in the European competition in team history, and now have the hope of hitting the championship. Within the Bundesliga, Freiburg is only a medium-sized team. However, after many years of stable and healthy operations, they have become a model for small and medium-sized Bundesliga teams. Looking around Europe, Freiburg this season is the team that takes the Europa League most seriously. It sends out its entire main lineup in almost every game, and responds with all its strength in every game.
In the first round, with half a minute left in stoppage time, Freiburg suffered a decisive victory. They played too conservatively in the second half and the idea of a draw came to naught. However, after returning to the home court, Freiburg regained their confidence and played with high intensity, starting with full pressure. In the 6th minute, center Matanovic retreated during the transition to provide Best with a single shot. Best was briefly selected for the German team. His route was quite smart, and he happened to get stuck in front of the chasing Dogles, causing the latter to receive a red card as the last man in the defense. Freiburg got off to a dream start.
In the first round of the game, Freiburg's left back Markengo made a huge mistake, which resulted in the first goal conceded. In addition, captain Günter's vitality has declined with age. What coach Schuster did in this game was to move Troy, a versatile defensive player who is capable of playing both left and right sides, to the right wing. The 33-year-old veteran Kübler, who served as a substitute, served as the right gate. Recently, he has mainly served as a substitute. Such adjustments have had miraculous effects. Kübler equalized the total score for Freiburg during the melee. In the second half, Griffo's signature set kick was delivered, and Kübler, who had outstanding ability to grab points, scored the second goal. The use of Kübler indirectly solved the weak link of the left back, and the second was to take advantage of his set pieces. Both of these situations have become actual situations.
Because Freiburg is under pressure to compete for seventh place in the Bundesliga, in the last round of 1-1 home game against Wolfsburg, Schuster did not carry out extensive rotation operations, and the Japanese international Yuito Suzuki, who had previously performed brilliantly, was injured. The approach taken by Schuster was to move the 20-year-old Swiss supernova Manzambi forward to the No. 10 position, so that he could fully display his talents and once again shoot wonderful long-range shots. The veteran Hefler, who is no longer in the rotation this season, also did an excellent job in the defensive midfielder position.
In the later stages of the game, Braga, who had recovered a goal, launched a comprehensive attack. Freiburg inevitably became a little nervous when they were about to hit the line. However, Artubolu's save ensured that the Black Foresters could proudly go to the final, and he also made up for the mistake he made when he conceded the second goal in the first round.
This season, Freiburg has 7 home games in the Europa League and has won all of them. In the knockout stage, they faced Celta Vigo and beat the opponent 3-0. After losing in the away game, they first reversed Genk 5-1 and then reversed Braga 3-1. They are invincible at their own Europa Park stadium, which Freiburg relies on. It is the kind of game intensity and momentum that can make opponents tremble. When the opponent shrinks, Freiburg can always use long-range shots to gain results. Its set-piece offense has a stable output. As the goal scorer Kübler said after the game, this game is 34,000 people against 11 people. In the Europa Park, Freiburg is omnipotent.
With the solid foundation laid by Streich's 12 years of coaching experience, former captain and assistant coach Schuster took over the mantle of the old coach to complete the inheritance. Both the 63-year-old Streich and the 66-year-old Loew came to the scene to witness a new milestone in the team's history. Streich led Freiburg to the Europa League knockout rounds twice, in 21- In the 22nd season, they also entered the German Cup final, but lost to RB Leipzig. The coach in the stands was very pleased.
On Wednesday night, Germany coach Nagelsmann watched Bayern's Champions League match against Paris. On Friday night, he will go to Dortmund to watch the Hornets' home Bundesliga match against Frankfurt. However, it seems that he has no interest in Freiburg and did not go to the scene in person. There are no Freiburg players on the German team roster in March.
It should be noted that the Bundesliga has regrets. In the second round of the UEFA Cup, Rayo Vallecano double defeated Strasbourg and entered the final. As a result, the Bundesliga was unable to overtake La Liga in European points this season. After all, the previous situation was that the Bundesliga must have one more team than La Liga to enter the European finals. Atletico Madrid and Bayern were eliminated, Freiburg and Rayo Vallecano advanced, and the Bundesliga finally failed to reach two. Even if Freiburg wins the Europa League, it will not help, because the winner will not receive additional European points. Through the league route, the Bundesliga has only four Champions League qualifications next season.
On May 20, the Europa League final will be held in Istanbul. Freiburg will challenge Aston Villa. If Freiburg wins, it will be able to qualify for the first Champions League in team history. However, considering the gap in strength between the two teams, and Villa has the help of "King of the Europa League" Emery, Freiburg is undoubtedly the underdog. However, who can determine the outcome of a game?