Bundesliga Europa League representatives SC Freiburg delivered a very poor performance in the opening leg of their 2025/26 UEL Round-of-16 encounter against Belgian outfit KRC Genk. Freiburg head coach Julian Schuster explicitly stated that he was looking forward to “fighting for Germany” at his Saturday post-match press conference following this weekend’s league draw with Bayer Leverkusen.
Despite such fiery words, there wasn’t much fight in the legs of everyone associated with the Schwarzwaldverein on this Thursday evening. Schuster’s men could only manage a paltry 0.19 xG in their away leg. About the only positive thing one can say about the night is that the low scoreline still accords the Bundesliga a club a chance at advancing next week with a better performance in Breisgau.
Freiburg see early goal disallowed
Much like their Bundesliga colleagues VfB Stuttgart on this very eve, the German UEL representatives found themselves on the wrong side of a VAR decision. SCF midfielder Johan Manzambi believed he had scored the 0-1 in the 8th minute, but the Swiss international was adjudged to have snuck the ball underneath the crossbar from an offside position. Manzambi had another crack at the opener in the 17th-minute, but saw a quality effort blocked by young Belgian defender Josué Kongolo.
Genk score the opener, Freiburg unlucky
Genk’s Zakarai El Ouahdi bested Freiburg skipper Christian Günter on the right in the 24th minute. After a nice one-two with teammate Konstantinos Karetsas, the Moroccan right back was easily able to slam in the 1-0 from a perfect shooting position. Karetsas himself nearly added the 2-0 three minutes later. In the 38th-minute, SCF attacker Yuito Suzuki saw a deflected effort bounce off the right post. Overall, the German guests played a fairly undisciplined first half tactically. Genk had way too much space in both open play and on dead balls.
Freiburg fail to improve
Though Schuster’s men certainly did better defensively after the restart, there wasn’t much from the Germans when it come to forward play. Manzambi and SCF fullback Philipp Treu attempted to implement some decent ideas, yet ultimately couldn’t get the ball into the final third. Freiburg substitutes Derry Scherhant and Lucas Höler were also notably poor offensively, failing to time their runs well or even get the basics of their touch correct.
SC Freiburg Player Ratings
Noah Atubolu (6) – Christian Günter (4), Bruno Ogbus (5), Matthias Ginter (6), Philipp Treu (5) – Johan Manzambi (6), Patrick Osterhage (5) – Vincenzo Grifo (4), Yuito Suzuki (6), Jan-Niklas Beste (4) – Igor Matanovic (4)
Substitutes: Cyriaque Irié (5), Derry Scherhant (3), Lucas Höler (3), (-), (-)
GGFN Bundesliga Player of the Match: Matthias Ginter (6)
The 32-year-old Freiburg-native has actually been on a decent run as of late. Shortly after commemorating his 400th Bundesliga appearance, Ginter has also notched two excellent Bundesliga goals over the course of the last three matchdays. The 51-times-capped German international played the part of the “happy warrior” for his hometown club tonight. Ginter engaged in 17 direct duels, winning over 70 percent of his challenges both in the air and on the ground.
Anyone forced to watch the full 90 minutes of this drab affair will surely agree that Ginter played harder than any of his colleagues. One might even state that he was the only one of the Breisgauer professionals who really seemed to want something from this match. If Schuster’s men can turn the tide at the Europa Park Stadion net week, they will surely have one of German football’s most respected elder statesmen to thank for keeping the scoreline low.
Ginter battled hard all night, proving a force defensively while also working consistently to help provide his team with forward impetus. Ginter racked up 63 touches, played 50 passes forward, and even got a shot off himself. It came as something of a surprise not to see Schuster send him forward as a striker late.
