Kübler’s last-minute decision
SC Freiburg dropped points for the first time in the Europa League season and still reached the knockout stages early. And 1. FC Union Berlin still have a good chance of qualifying for the round of 16.
Freiburg played 1-1 (0-1) against Greek record champion Olympiakos Piraeus on Thursday. Since the pursuer Qarabağ also lost 2-1 to FC Nantes in the parallel match, the Fribourgeois secured the group victory before the last day and thus spared themselves the round of the playoffs after the end of the year.
Youssef El Arabi scored in front of 33,600 spectators in the 17th minute for Piraeus, Lukas Kübler equalized in the 3rd minute of added time for Freiburg. Ousseynou Ba from Piraeus saw the yellow-red in an eventful final phase.
The lead for the record-breaking Greek champions came from one of many good counterattacks. SC goalkeeper Mark Flekken managed to parry Pep Biel’s first shot, but he received El Arabi’s shot in the legs. Giorgos Masouras nearly rose before the break. After having already passed Flekken, he pushes the ball into the side net instead of into the empty goal (23rd).
In the second half, Freiburg played more resolutely in front and therefore deserved the equalizer. Kübler forced Olympiakos goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis into a fine save (59′), shortly after Doan narrowly missed a cross (61′). Coach Christian Streich again brought a new force to the offense: first Woo-yeong Jeong, then Nils Petersen. But it didn’t pay off, Jeong (88th) missed the huge opportunity to make it 1-1 with a header shortly before the end. It all came down to a 0-1 – until Kübler scored after a standard to equalise.
Union Berlin keep their chances of qualifying for the Europa League round of 16
Union Berlin still has a good chance of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Europa League. The Bundesliga leaders beat Portugal’s second-placed SC Braga 1-0 (0-0) on Thursday night. Defense chief Robin Knoche (68th minute) scored the winning goal with a handball penalty. Due to the overall happy success, the Group D Irons overtook the Portuguese club in second place.
With a new victory at the leader Union Saint-Gilloise, already qualified for the round of 16, next Thursday, Union would certainly still be in the Europa League. A draw in Belgium could mean falling back to third place. Then only participation in the Conference League would remain as a consolation prize.
To the technical details of Union Berlin’s victory against Braga
Braga, who didn’t necessarily need a win, had a fairly staggered formation to check Union’s limited attacking efforts. A header from Morten Thorsby after half an hour was Braga’s first approach to the goal. Captain Christopher Trimmel (40th) then moved towards him from a more promising position. The Portuguese, for their part, had two moderately dangerous shooting chances thanks to Ricardo Horta (32nd) and Abel Ruiz (36th). This game really did not have a high European level.
Fischer brought in Andras Schäfer for Thorsby in the second half. The Hungarian should provide more surprise moments with his technical skills. The Union has made further progress, it was finally necessary to take risks. First, however, it gave the Portuguese more space to counterattack, which Fischer had cited as a danger. Referee Craig Pawson called for a penalty after a Fabiano handball according to video evidence, which upset Union.
Union got lucky just before the end when goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow slipped a free kick from the Portuguese, but the ball went over the goal.
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