The match turned out to be more one-sided than most had expected. Spearheaded by a Vincenzo Grifo hat-trick, Freiburg steamrolled the 10-man Union 4-1. The victory put the Black Forest club in second place in the league, only behind perennial champions Bayern Munich. Although only a little less than half of the season has been played, Freiburg are currently on pace for a historic campaign. The best league finish in the club's history came in the 1994-95 season when they finished third.
Freiburg's success this season has come on the strength of an outstanding transfer window. Their acquisitions of Ritsu Dōan, Michael Gregoritsch, and Matthias Ginter have proven to be inspired moves. Gregoritsch and Ginter were signed on free transfers from Augsburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach respectively, while Dōan's signing from PSV Eindhoven cost Freiburg just €8.5 million. These figures become even more impressive when considering the fact that Freiburg sold Nico Schlotterbeck to Borussia Dortmund for €20 million.
Speaking of Schlotterbeck, his departure did not leave the gaping hole in Freiburg's defense that some thought it would. Indeed, Freiburg's defense deserves a great deal of credit for their climb up the Bundesliga table this season as well as their success in the Europa League. Among all Bundesliga clubs this season, only Bayern have conceded fewer goals than have Freiburg. Their success in defensive positions in aerial duels as well as their outstanding defensive play against opposing set pieces have been their key advantages all season long. Freiburg's back four of Kiliann Sildillia, Ginter, Philipp Lienhart, and Christian Günter has become one of the most underrated backlines in world football. Ginter and Günter have been rewarded accordingly - both have been selected for Germany's 2022 World Cup squad; they are two of five Freiburg players who will be present in Qatar.
Freiburg aren't just adept at defending against set pieces; they are more than comfortable when taking them as well. A significant portion of their 25 league goals thus far have come by way of the dead ball. Grifo in particular has enjoyed much success from set pieces this season. Two of his three goals against Union were scored from the penalty spot. Grifo embodies Freiburg's emphasis on set pieces; over the past two seasons in particular, the Italian winger has either scored or created scoring opportunities from an impressively large number of set pieces - especially for a player who is not a natural goalscorer.
Not many expected Freiburg to build on their highly successful 2021-22 season in quite this way. Last season, their sixth-place league finish and run to the DFB-Pokal final meant that they had their best season since 2012-13 when they were fifth in the league and reached the domestic cup's semifinals. This season, however, based on what they have already done, their ceiling lies well above even that. A historic first-ever qualification for the Champions League and perhaps even an unprecedented second-place league finish might lie ahead for Freiburg. They might even have an outside chance at capturing the first title in the club's history by winning the DFB-Pokal. Though a tall order that may be, it's not out of the question at all.
Until their recent slump, all the talk about the underdog success story of the Bundesliga this season had been about Union. No one had really been talking about Freiburg. However, at this point it would clearly be foolish to overlook Freiburg. This team has defied their modest finances and unglamorous location to really bring the fight to the Bundesliga's leading lights. Clearly, something special is happening at Europa-Park Stadion.
Of course, there's still a lot of football yet to be played this season. We have seen late-season collapses happen before. Having said that, there's absolutely nothing about Freiburg's play thus far which suggests that their success is unsustainable.
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