Noah Atubolu reflects on his costly mistake in defeat to Braga

Noah Atubolu explained the action that led to Freiburg’s defeat in Braga on Thursday night. The Freiburg native was decisive for the visitors as they nearly took a draw into next week’s second leg before his mistake was punished by Mario Dorgeles in the last minute of injury-time.

"The problem was that I didn't see the ball,” the German shot-stopper said in an interview with RTL after the game. “I think it was Philipp Lienhart who was almost in front of me or next to me."

Atubolu did save Vítor Carvalho’s weak effort, but the rebound fell kindly to the 21-year-old substitute as Braga earned a narrow lead. However, if it wasn’t for Arbubolu's penalty-kick save from ex-Bundesliga attacker Rodrigo Zalazar, the hosts would’ve already restored their lead before half-time.

"We didn't defend well in the few moments that we were punished. We can do that better, and we have to do better." said Freiburg’s coach Julian Schuster in his post-match interview.