Ten men defeated at Freiburg

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FC Red Bull Salzburg

·11 de diciembre de 2025

Ten men defeated at Freiburg

No result after Ratkov red card

Our trip to Freiburg unfortunately ended without any additional points for our Europa League tally. We started the match well, but were reduced to ten men after Petar Ratkov was sent off. In the second half, the home side finally managed to score the decisive goal from a corner kick, leaving us with no answer and resulting in a 1-0 defeat.

Match summary

We made an energetic start and created opportunities right away. We didn't allow the opponents anything at the back either, with the hosts growing into the encounter after the opening ten minutes but struggling to break through our back line.

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Our assistant coach, Kai Hesse, who was standing in for the ill Thomas Letsch, had already pointed out the home team's scoring threat from set pieces in yesterday's press conference, and this became apparent in the 31st minute. Freiburg's best chance so far came from a corner kick, when Eggestein headed just wide. There were several more good corner opportunities for the Breisgau side later on in the first period.

Shortly before half-time, there was a sudden commotion in midfield. After an aerial duel, a Freiburg player went down, and Petar Ratkov initially received a yellow card. However, after a VAR review, the decision was overturned, and our Serbian striker was sent off with a red card for catching his opponent in the face with his elbow (38').

That turned the game almost completely on its head. Just moments after our sending off, we had a huge chance to take the lead: Edmund Baidoo capitalised on a counter-attack, leaving Lienhart in his wake with a clever feint, but slipped as he shot (42'). Despite being a man down, we suddenly displayed renewed attacking threat, before the teams went into the break goalless.

At the start of the second half, Schuster's men immediately caught us off guard with a promising opportunity, which Alex Schlager ultimately dealt with (46'). Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of a period of intense pressure from Freiburg, which would eventually result in the home side taking a 1-0 lead. Initially, the focus was on a penalty appeal following a tackle by Gadou. However, that was quickly forgotten, as Freiburg converted the resulting corner kick to make it 1-0. Niklas Beste fired a low shot from the edge of the penalty area, several legs got in the way, and ultimately Austrian defender Lienhart was credited with the goal (50').

We weren't able to get back to our first-half intensity, and the Germans were clearly the dominant team. We only managed occasional attacks of our own, but the consequences of being a man down were clearly visible. In the closing stages, we naturally took more risks in an attempt to somehow grab an equaliser, but Freiburg comfortably saw out the 1-0 victory.

On Sunday, we'll be looking to secure a home win against WAC in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga to end the year on a high note before the winter break.

Views

One crucial moment was the red card, and another was the brilliant counter-attack via Eddy Baidoo, where we made the wrong decision. What bothers us a bit is that we came out after half-time having abandoned our basic principles. That's when the goal went in. I can't fault the lads at all. We left our hearts on the pitch and defended superbly.

Assistant coach Kai Hesse

The red card was very frustrating because we were fully in the game. We're creating chances, that's the positive. At some point, we'll get into a flow, then we'll put every chance away and win every game – right now, we still have to earn it. We could have done better today, but overall, the match was a step in the right direction.

Stefan Lainer

At the end of the day, it came from a set piece. We're left without any points, but we can be proud of how we worked together - other teams have conceded more goals here. The way we performed should give us confidence – also with Sunday in mind.

Alexander Schlager

Match data summary

Line-ups & substitutions

SC Freiburg: Atubolu – Treu (70. Kübler), Ginter, Lienhart (78. Jung), Günter © – Eggestein, Manzambi (85. Osterhage) – Beste, Suzuki, Grifo (78. Höler) – Adamu (70. Matanovic) FC Salzburg: Schlager – Lainer (89. Onisiwo), Gadou, Rasmussen, Terzic – Diabate (63. Yeo), Bidstrup © – Baidoo (76. Konate), Vertessen (76. Alajbegovic), Bischoff (46. Trummer) – Ratkov

Goal: Lienhart (50') Attendance: 31,100 Referee: Elchin Masiyev (AZE) Yellow cards: Kübler (80./Foul), Suzuki (90./Foul) - Lainer (45.+2/Foul) Red cards: None - Ratkov (38./Violent conduct)

Injury news

Not available for the match were Lucas Gourna-Douath (knee), Takumu Kawamura (knee), Maurits Kjaergaard (calf), John Mellberg (knee) and Jannik Schuster (ill).
Sota Kitano (muscular problems) was not available to face Freiburg.
Head coach Thomas Letsch was also absent due to illness.