It was suppose to be a beautiful night in Freiburg. The small German club is having a great season in Bundesliga (tied with fourth placed Union Berlin), they just renewed their coach Christian Streich (longest serving active coach in the top flight) and they are in the Round of 16 of the Europa League for the first time in club’s history. They came back from Torino a week ago with a reasonable 1-0 loss in a game in which they didn’t dissapoint, but in the second match, the score was even worse: Freiburg – Juventus 0-2.20 – Since he joined Juventus, Dusan #Vlahovic has scored 20 goals considering all competitions, at least 11 more than any other Bianconeri player in this period (Moise Kean 9 and Adrien Rabiot 9). Unlocked.#FreiburgJuventus— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) March 16, 2023 Unfortunately for the German team, this was a typical tie with a much more experienced club, a former Champions League winner, and a team with a strong and experienced defense. Juve used the situation which they had in front of them and managed to steal in win in an even game, in which Freiburg maybe even had better chances, but failed to use them. Even the winning goal by Juve was scored after a penalty, which clearly shows that it was Freiburg’s fault. Before this match, the German team were unbeaten at home in the Europa League this season, and they failed to score in one of their past 23 home matches in all competitions, but tonight was not that night.It started well for the home team, who had advantage and a fantastic chance in the first half, when Holer’s shot was saved by Szczesny on the goal line, while Juve scored a goal minutes later, but it was nullified due to offside. And then, just two minutes before the end of the first half, Freiburg’s Manuel Gulde decided this match. He handballed in the penalty area, and got the second yellow card. Dusan Vlahovic nearly missed the penalty, but the ball went to the goal anyway: 1-0 for Juve and a player more on the field for the whole second half. The other 45 minutes were typical Juve: holding the ball, sometimes even letting the opponent have it, but keeping it tight at the back. Still Freiburg had some chances, but not enough. Federico Chiesa came in for Vlahovic and scored the second goal of the match in injury time. Juve are through.UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE – Knockout stageSecond legThursday Betis – Manchester United 0-1 (0-0)/Rashford 56/Fenerbahce – Sevilla 1-0 (1-0)/Valencia 41 pen/Feyenoord – Shakhtar Donetsk 7-1 (3-0)/Gimenez 9, Kokcu 24, 38, Idrissi 49,60, Jahanbakhsh 64, Danilo 67 – Kelsy 87/Freiburg – Juventus 0-2 (0-1)/Vlahovic 45 pen, Chiesa 90+5/23.00: (3.40) St.Gilloise (3.25) Union Berlin (2.35)23.00: (5.00) Ferencvaros (3.70) Leverkusen (1.80)23.00: (1.35) Arsenal (5.00) Sporting (9.00)23.00: (2.05) Sociedad (3.30) Roma (4.20)*** odds are subject to change ***
