The most recent set of Bundesliga fixtures saw SC Freiburg register an impressive victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach. Nils Petersen scored the only goal of the game to give Freiburg the victory. The win also means that Freiburg maintain their pursuit of the last Europa League spot; they are competing with Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim, Hertha Berlin, and Schalke for it.
Heading into this season, no one could have expected that Freiburg would experience the level of success which they have thus far. The club from southwestern Germany have not featured in continental competition since the 2013-14 Europa League, in which they were eliminated after the group stage. Furthermore, they had finished 15th and 13th during the two preceding league campaigns.
As they are not among the leading clubs in the Bundesliga, Freiburg's season has gone under the radar. Regardless, Freiburg have indeed surpassed all pre-season expectations of them. But just how have they done it?
For one thing, it must be noted that many of their players have significantly improved from last season. Players such as Jonathan Schmid, Christian Günter, Robin Koch, Luca Waldschmidt, and Petersen have all been key contributors to Freiburg's season to date. The impressive play of the latter four players has even earned them consideration for call-ups to the German national team. Although none of them have earned more than three caps at this point, further appearances for Die Mannschaft are likely to come if they are able to maintain their form into next season and beyond. Koch has also been linked with transfers to clubs such as Valencia, Tottenham Hotspur, and Manchester United.
During the last off-season's transfer window, Freiburg also made signings which came at reasonable prices and also suited the needs of the team. Freiburg do not have the financial resources of their direct rivals, which made them prioritize maximizing value for money when signing players. This can be seen in the acquisition of Schmid from Augsburg for €4 million. Freiburg also pulled off a major win by bringing in Vincenzo Grifo from Hoffenheim. In doing so, they managed to land a key player from one of their fellow Europa League contenders for just €7 million. These shrewd signings helped set up some of Freiburg's overachievement this season.
The relative lack of expectations of Freiburg may also have helped them this season. Teams such as Schalke and Frankfurt have underwhelmed relative to what had been expected of them at the beginning of the season. Conversely, there had not been any such expectations placed on Freiburg. This therefore allowed them to be able to play with more freedom, less pressure, and less fear or inhibition. In such an environment, it was possible for the team to thrive and achieve results far beyond what had been predicted.
Nevertheless, Freiburg fans should not get carried away in spite of their success. As has been mentioned, they are not endowed with the resources which their rivals possess. Thus, with just four matchdays remaining, it is possible that this resource gap may make itself evident and see Freiburg's bid for a Europa League spot come off the rails.
Freiburg's lack of experience in this position could also be a factor which works against them. All of the other clubs competing for the last Europa League spot have recently been involved in either the Champions League or Europa League. If the pressure of the situation ends up getting to them, they might end up faltering in their effort to reach their first continental tournament in seven years.
However, regardless of the end result of their season, Freiburg and their fans can be very pleased with how this season has gone. If you had told anyone associated with the club that the club would be in the chase for a Europa League spot with just four more league matches to be played, they would have been delighted to have heard that.
They might not be the favourites to claim that spot; Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim are more likely to do so. Their personnel also lacks the overall quality of those of the clubs around them. However, if they continue showing the grit and heart which have brought them this far while also getting a bit of luck along the way, European football might very well be on its way to the Black Forest.
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