"That's not who we are" - Schuster defends Freiburg's bold approach against Bayern Bulinews Sun, October 25, 2026 at 7:08 PM UTC · 2 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SC Freiburg head coach Julian Schuster has defended his side's decision to take the game to Bayern Munich, despite their ambitious approach leaving them exposed in Sunday's 3-1 loss at Europa-Park Stadion.
The Breisgau outfit found themselves two goals behind at the interval, after strikes from Dayot Upamecano and Serge Gnabry saw Bayern race into the lead.
A Tom Bischof own goal in the 82nd minute gave Freiburg hope of a dramatic comeback, before Michael Olise put the game to bed in stoppage time.
Speaking to DAZN after the final whistle, Schuster was asked whether his side should have adopted a more cautious approach.
However, he insisted: "You can park the bus and sit back, but that's not us.
"We choose this brave approach. That's who we are, and sometimes things like that can happen. I don't blame the boys.
"Of course, we can, and have to, defend one or two situations better."
Schuster acknowledged that his side had been punished for losing individual battles, pointing to Upamecano's opening goal as an example of the risks associated with their approach.
"When you're defending a lot of situations one-on-one, there might be one moment where you're missing something, where you lose an opponent, or Upamecano makes that incredible run.
"Then you can't always defend everything."
Nevertheless, the 41-year-old was more disappointed by Freiburg's inability to capitalise on their promising attacking situations before falling behind.
"What was actually more important to me before the first goal was that we got our shots away. That's our approach, and that's what we have to do.
"Against teams with this kind of quality, it's important that you don't allow those counterattacks."
Despite the defeat, Schuster was encouraged by the response his players produced after the interval, particularly after suffering a disappointing defeat against Monaco in the Conference League on Thursday.
"It's not that easy when you're 2-0 down against Bayern," he admitted.
"But that's exactly what we said at half-time. We had to keep believing, which is incredibly difficult.
"The boys had that belief, and when you score a goal, we know what can happen here with our fans.
"I think towards the end, we were closer to making it 2-2 than Bayern were to making it 3-1."
Schuster also praised his players for showing the determination he felt was missing after their European defeat earlier in the week.
"Some of the boys realised today that just playing a bit of football isn't enough. We need the basics. They have to be there, and they have to be right.
"They were there today. Of course, you can still lose against Bayern with a performance like that."
Source: Sports
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