Stalemate in Freiburg on goals from Koulierakis and Lienhart

For Wolfsburg boss Dieter Hecking, who entered his seventh match in his second spell at the helm of Die Wölfe, this match was a special moment for him as it marked 450 appearances behind the bench in the German top-flight (split between Alemannia Aachen, Hannover 96, 1. FC Nürnberg, VfL Wolfsburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and VfL Bochum).

Wolfsburg started the match putting pressure on the hosts. The first opportunity of the match came at the ninth minute mark, as a Christian Günter pass back to Noah Atubolu was intercepted by Adam Daghim just outside the Freiburg penalty area. The 20-year-old Danish talent then sent a short ground pass to his right, where his Danish compatriot Christian Eriksen was placed; Eriksen would power the following attempt past Atubolu and off the left goalpost before Matthias Ginter cleared it away from danger.

Just five minutes later, Freiburg would get a chance of their own on a run from half-field by Johan Manzambi. The Genève-born Swiss international ran close to the Wolfsburg box before eventually being cut off by Denis Vavro. In the twenty-second minute, Adam Daghim would supply Patrick Wimmer with a through ball between three Freiburg defenders. Matthias Ginter would attempt to pressure the Austrian international, but did not get in front of the ball in time for Wimmer’s left-footed attempt; nevertheless, the 24-year-old winger would blast the ball well over the bar.

Freiburg would go on a counterattack not too long after. Vincenzo Grifo would send a long ball to the right side of the box, in the direction of Yuito Suzuki; the Japanese international appeared to aim for the top-right corner, but the follow-through was sent a bit too low to the ground and Kamil Grabara had no issue gloving it down.

With three minutes remaining in the second half, Konstantinos Koulierakis would deliver a cross from the left side of the Freiburg third into the centre of the box. Daghim was the recipient of it, but his header ultimately went wide to the left of Atubolu. On the ensuing counterattack, Jan-Nicklas Beste, on the right side of the Wolfsburg penalty area, would thread a through ball to Philipp Treu in the goal area - but Kamil Grabara went down and smothered the ball, bringing down a running Koulierakis in the process.

The first half came to an end soon after, with the scores level at 0-0. At this point of the match, the live table showed that Freiburg would move up to seventh and the Europa Conference League place, one point clear of Eintracht Frankfurt; at the same time, Wolfsburg would move to sixteenth and the relegation playoff spot, with the same amount of points as FC St. Pauli but with a better goal differential (-25 compared to -28). Shots in the first half finished 5-5, 1-1 on target; Freiburg held 64% possession and had a much better passing accuracy, 87% on 224 passes compared to 71% on 100 from Die Wölfe.

The second half nearly started with a gift for VfL Wolfsburg, as a short pass within the box from Atubolu deflected off Manzambi - who tripped up on his own. Wimmer and Daghim converged on the ball, but Manzambi knocked the ball away from danger before either could pounce on the opportunity.

Daghim continued to be heavily involved in the Wolfsburg attack, darting past three Freiburg players along the edge of the box before powering a shot towards the bottom-left corner; Atubolu punched the ball away with both hands, thus awarding a corner to the visitors. Eriksen would swing in the set piece near-post, but Bruno Ogbus would clear it with a towering header over Koulierakis.

Close to the hour mark, a Joakim Mæhle ground pass into the right side of the Freiburg half met the boot of Dženan Pejčinović, who entered open space close to the box. Pejčinović held onto possession for too much time as he was entering the right side of the Freiburg penalty area; as a result, Bruno Ogbus slid into the space in front of the 21-year-old German youth international to knock the ball away for a corner to the visitors.

Christian Eriksen’s first near-post corner was cleared away, but Ogbus would make yet another headed clearance to send it away for another set piece. Eriksen did not change his strategy on the second set-piece, also sending it near post; Konstantinos Koulierakis met it with a header, leaping above both Christian Günter and Matthias Ginter before sending the ball into the bottom-right corner with his forehead. It was the Greek international centre-back’s third goal in thirteen matches, all headers from set pieces - and with that, VfL Wolfsburg jumped in front by a goal to none.

The next 20 minutes were relatively slow, with both teams’ substitutes trying to find their form. SC Freiburg would eventually find their equaliser in the seventy-sixth minute, though; a cross into the centre of the box from Johan Manzambi was headed by substitute Philipp Lienhart, with Kamil Grabara watching the ball go off the inside of the right post, then in and out of the goal without touching the netting.

The hosts nearly won it in the final minute of regular time, as Johan Manzambi darted into the right side of the box from a Jan-Niklas Beste through ball. He sent a weak attempt in the direction of Grabara, who denied it with his left leg; the rebound deflected off the right leg of Vavro and right back to the Freiburg striker, but his whack at the ball with his right leg missed and Grabara grabbed onto it to thwart the opportunity.

Freiburg held the ball for much of the seven minutes of additional time, but could not find a late winner and the match finished all square, 1-1 at Europa-Park-Stadion. Shots finished 13-11 to VfL Wolfsburg, 4-3 on target, with Freiburg holding 63% possession and an 84% pass accuracy on 422 passes, compared to 70% on 200 for Wolfsburg.

Because of the draw, SC Freiburg move into seventh and the Europa Conference League spot, with 43 points compared to 42 from Eintracht Frankfurt. The Breisgau-Brasilianer will host Portuguese side SC Braga in the second leg of their UEFA Europa League semifinal tie on Thursday, with kickoff set for 21:00 (CET) at Europa-Park-Stadion. Should they win that match by two or greater, they will qualify for their first ever European competition final on the twentieth of May. Their next Bundesliga match is at Volksparkstadion next Sunday, against Hamburger SV at 15:30 (CET).

As for VfL Wolfsburg, the draw means that they are level on points with FC St. Pauli, but move into sixteenth in the table on goal difference. Their next match comes against the Meisterschale winners themselves, FC Bayern München - who clinched their thirty-fifth title victory two weeks ago and will be involved in their second match in four days, since they are also in the UEFA Champions League semifinals with French side Paris Saint-Germain. Kickoff for that match is on Saturday, 15:30 (CET).