Newsletters
Trabzonspor head coach Thomas Reis said his side deserved at least a draw after a 1-0 home defeat to Germany’s Freiburg on the third matchday of the UEFA Conference League league phase on Thursday.
Freiburg won at Papara Park in Trabzon, a city on Türkiye’s Black Sea coast. Lukas Kubler scored the only goal in the 14th minute, sending the rebound into the net after Trabzonspor goalkeeper Andre Onana saved Igor Matanovic’s header from a corner.
The result leaves both Trabzonspor and Freiburg on six points after three matches.
Speaking at a news conference after the match, Reis said his team did not play at its best in the opening 15 to 20 minutes.
“To be honest, that was not our best performance,” Reis said. “We made very simple ball losses. We did not win the duels. We also conceded a goal from a corner.”
Reis said he saw a different team in the second half, one that fought for each other, chased goal chances and gave everything.
“I think we deserved at least a draw here,” he said. “Maybe we just could not find the goal, but we had many chances in many situations where we could have scored. In the second half, Freiburg did not really have many goal chances either. Unfortunately, we were the losing side at the end of the day. What we need to focus on now is Sunday’s match. Of course, we want to win that one again.”
Freiburg head coach Julian Schuster said his side played a very important match.
“We were very active defensively and played very aggressively,” Schuster said. “We wanted to put up the best fight in the first half, and we did. We missed some chances. We could not use the chances we wanted. We played a very important match in such an atmosphere at such a stadium. But taking these three points here was very important for us.”
Schuster also credited Trabzonspor for their performance.
“Trabzonspor were very good in quality. They were very alert and very energetic. We did well at winning the ball and acted accordingly. But as I said, Trabzonspor played very well today,” he said. “I wish Trabzonspor good luck in the upcoming matches.”
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
2 min read
