Freiburg dig deep to achieve stalemate in Lens
The Breisgauers travelled to face RC Lens for their UEFA Europa League playoff round meeting which finished 0-0. The return leg will take place at the Europa-Park Stadion on Thursday 22nd February.
Freiburg battled to an all-important draw tonight in Northern France against a talented RC Lens outfit. The French club dropped into the Europa League by virtue of their third place finish in Champions League Group B, however they struggled at times against their hard-working German opponents.
The first-half this evening passed by with no goals and relatively few scoring opportunities. Freiburg boasted the lion's share of the dangerous chances. The pick of the bunch fell to the feet of Roland Sallai in the 19th minute. Fed by Eggestein, the Hungarian thrashed his effort off the crossbar from an acute angle.
Florian Sotoca spurned two chances for the hosts around the half-hour mark. The 33-year-old was set up by David Costa and ex-Augsburg defender Kevin Danso swiftly after, but both shots lacked accuracy.
Fortune continued to favour the Streich's men after the break. Yet another superb opportunity fell to the Breisgauers in the 58th minute. Eggestein looked sure to score from 3 metres out, but Danso was on hand to clear off the goal line.
With the clock entering the final 20 minutes, Lens appeared to have made the breakthrough via Massadio Haidara. The wing-back forcing the rebound home from Atubolu's initial parry. However, VAR came to Freiburg's aid, with Frankowski adjudged to be offside in the same attacking phase. All to play for in this tie come the second-leg next Thursday.