West Ham scores with a dream solo
Freiburg says goodbye to the Europa League with a debacle
March 14, 2024, 8:36 p.m
SC Freiburg is eliminated in the round of 16 of the Europa League against West Ham United. The Bundesliga club goes into the second leg with a 1-0 win, but cannot recover from an early goal. In the end they lose 5-0. It is unclear what the future looks like for coach Streich.
Historic opportunity missed, lesson learned: SC Freiburg failed in the round of 16 on its emotional Europa League journey. On a bitter evening in London, coach Christian Streich’s seemingly inhibited and hopeless team suffered the biggest defeat in their European Cup history in the second leg with 0:5 (0:2) at the merciless Premier League club West Ham United. The wait for the first international quarter-final in the club’s history continues.
A week after the 1-0 first leg win, the sports club disappointed for long stretches and fell behind early on thanks to goals from Lucas Paqueta (9th) and Jarrod Bowen (32nd), Aaron Cresswell (52nd) and double packer Mohammed Kudus (77th and 85th) increased after the break. It remains to be seen whether it was Streich’s last European game as SC coach. The Breisgauers’ dream had already been shattered in the round of 16 against Juventus Turin last year.
“We know that we can achieve something big,” emphasized driver Maximilian Eggestein. Streich, whose future could be decided next week from summer onwards, sent the same starting eleven onto the field that started in the first duel. This meant that noble joker Michael Gregoritsch was once again on the bench despite his late winning goal.
Nightmare start doesn’t let SC go
However, in the atmospheric Olympic Stadium in 2012, the sports club got off to a nightmare start. After a corner, Paqueta was right at the second post and caused the first setback. The advantage from the first leg was lost early on. The SC, who met West Ham for the fourth time this season, had little to think of apart from a finish from Roland Sallai (10th). Instead, Kudus (18th) initially missed the second goal from the ripped-off hosts, before Bowen increased the score with a dry finish from the second row. Streich stood on the sidelines, somewhat perplexed.
West Ham: Fabianski – Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Cresswell – Soucek, Alvarez (87. Phillips) – Kudus (87. Ings), Bowen (86. Earthy), Paqueta (62. Ward-Prowse) – Antonio (78. Johnson; – Trainer: Moyes.
Freiburg: Atubolu – Sildillia (68th Röhl), Ginter, Gulde (62nd Kübler), Günter – Eggestein, Höfler (62nd Muslija) – Doan, Sallai, Grifo (46th Gregoritsch) – Höler (68th Philipp); – Trainer: Prank.
Referee: Marco Guida (Italy)
Gates: 1:0 Paqueta (9th), 2:0 Bowen (32nd), 3:0 Cresswell (52nd), 4:0 Kudus (77th), 5:0 Kudus (85th)
Yellow cards: Cresswell, Alvarez –
Viewers: 55,000
The approximately 2,300 SC supporters who traveled along were probably hoping for another dramatic comeback during the break like in the second round second leg against RC Lens. Gregoritsch came on in the second half, but again the English came first with Cresswell, who scored the next goal from the edge of the penalty area. Freiburg’s efforts in the final phase were ineffective. Kudus punished Streich’s team again.
Meanwhile, it is unclear what will happen next with coach Streich. A decision should be made next week. “We’ll see next week, then we’ll tell you. (…) It could be Monday, Tuesday,” said Streich on RTL+ before the game started.
Streich took over the Freiburg professionals during the winter break of the 2011/2012 season. Most recently he only extended his contract by one year. The last extension to date was announced in March 2023. In recent weeks there have been rumors that Streich could break up in the summer. However, there are currently no concrete signs that he could give up the position of head coach at SC after this season.