KRC Genk – SC Freiburg 1:0 (1:0)

1:0 El Ouahdi (24.)

The most important thing in brief: SC Freiburg lost the first leg against Belgian club KRC Genk 0-1 (0-1) in the round of 16 and is under pressure before the reunion next Thursday in Breisgau.

Zakaria El Ouahdi scored the only goal of the evening (24th minute). Despite an overall solid performance, Freiburg was once again unsuccessful away from home. In the Bundesliga, the sports club has only managed two victories away from home this season and only one on the European stage.

It’s not like Julian Schuster is still away Christian Streich would have to emancipate. In contrast to other clubs where young coaches sometimes fail to meet the standards set by their great predecessors, Schuster has… SC Freiburg swam free quickly. At the latest with fifth place in the last Bundesliga season and qualification for the Football Europa League the 40-year-old showed that he can do it.

Streich didn’t make it past the round of 16

As SC captain, Schuster was Streich’s extended arm, and after his career he also worked with the coach as a liaison coach and assistant coach. Now Schuster could achieve something in the round of 16 duel with KRC Genk that his mentor Streich was unable to do with the sports club: reaching a European Cup quarter-final. Schuster is also betting that his team will benefit from the home advantage in the second leg a week later after the away game in Genk on Thursday (9 p.m./RTL).

“Here we can plan our processes optimally, the boys can sleep at home, come here with a good feeling and know every single corner,” said the 40-year-old, referring to the sports club’s home strength. “That provides security and can extract final percentage points.”

In addition, Genk from the Belgian Jupiler Pro League is not of the same caliber as the previous round of 16 opponents against whom Freiburg was eliminated under Streich: the Italian top club Juventus Turin in the 2022/2023 season and a year later the traditional English club West Ham United. Will Genk, who beat Dinamo Zagreb in the playoffs, make it to the quarter-finals for the first time? It would be the greatest international success in the club’s history.

The away balance can be improved

In any case, Vincenzo Grifo has “good memories” of the stadium in Genk. There the winger, who is SC’s record goalscorer along with Nils Petersen, played his first international match for Italy in a test against the USA in November 2018. “That was very gratifying,” he said recently.

However, Freiburg’s away record this season is not so encouraging. They have only lost one game at home in all competitions, but they are having a hard time abroad. So far there have only been two wins in the Bundesliga and one in the Europa League, where the Breisgauer team qualified directly for the round of 16 as seventh in the league phase.

But the 3-3 draw in a top-class Bundesliga game at home against Bayer Leverkusen gives the eighth-placed team confidence for the tasks ahead – even away, where things aren’t going well (yet). “I feel very motivated to change that, preferably on Thursday,” said Schuster.

SC captain Christian Günter also emphasized this. The team has recently shown that it has “taken back its security with the ball” and is capable of “hurting any team. And that is the route for the next few weeks.” KRC Genk, who won the last of their four Belgian championship titles in 2019, should also feel this.