Schuster and Freiburg players admit “lucky win” over Heidenheim

Freiburg climbed to seventh place after a hard-fought win over Heidenheim.

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Following a 6-1 aggregate win over Celta de Vigo in the Europa League quarter-final, Freiburg had to rely on two deflected goals to beat the Bundesliga’s bottom-placed side, Heidenheim. The three points lifted Julian Schuster’s side to seventh place as Eintracht Frankfurt lost ground with a home defeat to RB Leipzig the previous day.

"In some phases after half-time, we seemed a bit sluggish," admitted Schuster after the game as he shared his honest opinion. "The fact that we are still going off the pitch as the winner after their equaliser is remarkable."

"You could tell that we were fatigued," added Maximilian Eggestein, who scored the winner in the 83rd minute. "We know that it was not our best game, but that was not so important today."

Vincenzo Grifo was credited with the assists for both goals as he’s enjoying one of his best seasons to date. "It was a 50/50 game. We were luckier. We are experiencing a very good phase and are trying to enjoy the next few weeks. We will go into the upcoming games with full energy,” concluded the former Italian international.

Freiburg will be next in action on Thursday as they lock horns with holders Stuttgart in the DFB-Pokal semi-final.