“After the game, a win would definitely have been better, but the result is okay,” said Maximilian Eggestein, who led the SCF onto the field with the armband on his arm: “We want to do it now in front of our home crowd.”
The Breisgauers showed the reaction they had hoped for when they were relegated from the Champions League at home after three recent league defeats in a row. SC captain Christian Günter also had reason to be happy: After months of suffering due to a broken arm, the national player was in the Europa League squad for the first time this season, but remained unused.
Lens was a “top team,” Streich had said in advance, while Günter expected a “huge chunk.” In the frenetic sea of flags at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, the SC coach surprised both systematically and in terms of personnel: Freiburg relied on a three-man chain with birthday boy Yannik Keitel in the center, with the recovered Manuel Gulde starting on the left. Ritsu Doan and Merlin Röhl, who was suspended in the Bundesliga, returned to the starting line-up, while Vincenzo Grifo took a seat on the bench.
And Streich’s adjustments paid off. Lens struggled and there were no compelling chances in the early stages. The sports club felt their way forward for the first time through Doan (14th), shortly afterwards the 2,000 SC fans who had traveled with them had the scream of goal on their lips: Rolland Sallais (20th) powerful right-footed shot from an acute angle hit the crossbar.