Dramatic final phase in Frankfurt with serious consequences: With a 2-1 win against SC Freiburg, Eintracht is represented internationally again, the Breisgauers miss the Champions League.
While Eintracht Frankfurt’s outgoing coach Oliver Glasner was celebrating in front of the fans, Vincenzo Grifo looked back at the pitch with deep disappointment. “We were so close and tried everything,” said SC Freiburg’s top scorer after the 2-1 (1-0) defeat at Hessen, which Eric Dina Ebimbe sealed in the first minute of added time.
With serious consequences for both sides: The Breisgauer missed the qualification for the Champions League in a long-distance duel with Union Berlin, Frankfurt, as seventh in the table, at least has certain participation in the Conference League.
If the DFB Cup final is also won in Berlin next weekend, Eintracht will even play in the Europa League.
With his 15th goal of the season, Grifo had raised hopes for the greatest success in the history of the Freiburg club, but in the final phase the guests gave out. Randal Kolo Muani (83′) equalized and Eintracht didn’t give up after that.
Grifo hits out of nowhere
Freiburg’s coach Christian Streich had asked for full focus on his own game beforehand, and he only wanted to be informed of interim results in Berlin in exceptional cases. “We have to play a great game ourselves in Frankfurt,” emphasized the 57-year-old, “then we settle accounts in the end.”
And the Sport-Club started briskly in their last game of the season in front of 50,500 spectators. In a first early urge phase, Philipp Lienhart (7th) aimed free-standing from eight meters too high.
However, Eintracht got into the game better as the agile Kolo Muani hit the side netting twice (9′, 31′). Freiburg was now very busy on the defensive, with the ball increasingly missing the solutions. After a great flick from Mario Götze (39th), Matthias Ginter prevented a deficit with a header in front of his own goal line. Grifo then nodded a deflected cross at the far post out of nowhere.
With the lead behind them, the Breisgauers lurked in the second round for a counterattack and were very compact defensively. Eintracht, on the other hand, hardly found a recipe, in the last third there was a lack of accuracy in the passing game. Until Streich’s squad was physically exhausted and the hosts got into a real game frenzy in the last few minutes.
Eintracht Frankfurt – SC Freiburg: The voices of the game
Oliver Glasner (Eintracht Frankfurt coach): “We’re really happy. It was difficult, Freiburg let us come. We played a lot, but weren’t dangerous. When Hertha led, the stadium came. And with that came the belief that we went all-in. After that 1-1, everyone had the feeling that we could still win the game. That shows what an extraordinary attitude and mentality this group has. When no one believes in them anymore, they still believe in themselves.”
Christian Streich (Coach SC Freiburg): “There was a difference on the pitch, it was Kolo Muani. You can hardly defend him, he has exceptional quality. We took the lead, everything was fine until the 70th minute. The last 20 minutes it was an open one But we were a little lacking in strength, so in the end it’s deserved.”
Eintracht Frankfurt – SC Freiburg 2: 1 (0: 1): The data for the game
