Uefa Europa League
The Stuttgart miracle doesn’t happen – Freiburg is building its way into the round of 16
VfB Stuttgart has to go into the playoffs for the Europa League round of 16. A 3-2 win against Bern was not enough for direct qualification. SC Freiburg, on the other hand, is further ahead.
In the fight for a place in the round of 16 in the Europa League, VfB Stuttgart has to take the detour via the playoffs. The Swabians won 3:2 (2:1) against Young Boys Bern. But that wasn’t enough for a place in the top eight because the necessary support wasn’t available.
After a furious start, the DFB Cup winners took an early 2-0 lead thanks to goals from strike duo Deniz Undav (6th minute) and Ermedin Demirovic (7th). But Armin Gigovic (42nd) and Sandro Lauper (57th) managed to equalize for the Swiss. But Andres Chema gave VfB victory (90th).
SC Freiburg moves straight into the Europa League round of 16 despite defeat
Despite a defeat, SC Freiburg moves straight into the round of 16 of the Europa League without going through the intermediate round. At the end of the league phase, coach Julian Schuster’s team lost 0-1 (0-0) at OSC Lille. The result was still enough to maintain a place among the top eight teams. A penalty from Olivier Giroud (90+2) sealed the late defeat.
Even before kick-off, it was clear that one point would be enough for the Bundesliga club to skip the playoffs and thus gain two weeks off. Given the triple pressure of the league, Europa League and DFB Cup, it was understandable that the guests chose a defensive approach.
However, this was so defensive that they remained completely harmless throughout the entire game. But Lille didn’t act much more forcefully out of the game – despite having the majority in the final phase after the red card for Maximilian Eggestein (74th). Due to the results of the competition, the defeat had no consequences.
DPA
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