Mauro Lustrinelli looked at Freiburg's coach Julian Schuster in surprise and with a subtle smile. “He won, no questions for Julian?” the Union coach wanted to know, as he received the next question about Berlin’s 2-0 defeat at SC Freiburg. He had completely missed the fact that the press conference had been divided into a Lustrinelli and a Schuster question and answer session because the Berlin Bundesliga team was in a hurry to leave.
The little irritation brought smiles to faces on the podium. And it fit with the entire Berlin performance in Freiburg. Like their coach, the guests appeared on the pitch: overwhelmed and disoriented. However, not just for a few seconds like Lustrinelli did in the public analysis, but for almost the entire playing time. “Nothing sticks because we didn’t put in a good performance on the pitch today,” criticized manager Horst Heldt on Sky.
In this form, the 16th place in the table, which has seven points in nine games, is a hot candidate for relegation. The fans who had traveled with us also saw it that way: “Use all force – stay in the league,” they demanded of their favorites after the final whistle in the stadium. At the main train station, a supporter complained on the phone: “Never go out of town, that’s what I tell you.” Union's frightening record abroad: one point and 1:14 goals. No first division team is more harmless away from home.
In Freiburg the team seemed almost afraid. Union had zero shots on goal before the break and four harmless ones in the second half. The sports club ended up with a total of 20. The captain's analysis was ruthless. “Clearly a deserved defeat over 90 minutes,” grumbled Rani Khedira, who scored an own goal in the 55th minute to make it 0-1. "We were inferior in all areas. The bottom line was that it wasn't enough offensively and defensively."
Yuito Suzuki (67th) provided the final score for the highly superior Freiburg team, who decoded the Berliners' extreme defensive mode with playful solutions. The idea was not to keep the defense so deep, explained Lustrinelli. There was a lack of relief and solutions in playing with the ball: “We couldn’t get out cleanly.”
The best player was goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow, who made several strong saves and saved a penalty from Vincenzo Grifo in the final phase. “If the goalkeeper is our best man, then that’s significant,” admitted Heldt. “There’s a lot to do, but it’s not that easy.”
After falling behind, Khedira thought things had at least started to go better, but noted critically: "This has been with us for a while now. Of course you have nothing left to lose. But it's also not a good idea in football that when you have nothing left to lose, you only play forward. We have to change."
However, the question has long been whether the quality of the squad is sufficient for a turnaround. Lustrinelli made five changes against Freiburg. There was hardly any fresh impetus, even if the return of striker André Ilic and the use of top talent Linus Güther, who was only 16 years old, gave some hope for improvement.
The Berliners were verbally combative. Lustrinelli emphasized the “mental aspect” and praised: “The team stayed together.” Heldt, who is responsible for putting together the squad and is coming under increasing criticism, promised: “I have confidence in the squad, we will also hold the league.”
The only thing that is certain is that a lot of work awaits the Union team before the next home game against RB Leipzig on November 21st (3:30 p.m., Sky). “At the moment it’s all about getting points,” said Heldt in Freiburg. That stands above everything, including the approach of the new coach, who actually wants to play attractive football with a high level of pressing and a goal threat. Until the winter break, the focus is on collecting points.
