An error from each side saw Bologna and Freiburg grind out an entertaining 1-1 draw at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara on Matchday 2 of the UEFA Europa League (UEL) - the 14th of Freiburg’s last 17 matches to see both teams score.
Looking to make immediate amends for a narrow matchday one loss to Aston Villa, Bologna started positively and had arguably the best moment of an opening 20-minute period that saw some fleeting moments of promise from both sides, with Santiago Castro hitting the side-netting from an awkward angle, despite being sent clear by a shrewd pass from Riccardo Orsolini.
Freiburg then went up the other end, and Lukasz Skorupski denied Johan Manzambi and Philipp Lienhart in quick succession.
But it was Bologna who struck the opener bang on the half-hour mark, as Orsolini turned from near-provider to goalscorer.
It was as much down to comical Freiburg defending as ingenuity that the Red and Blues’ talisman was able to finally get onto a European scoresheet, with Philipp Lienhart unable to clear a hopeful low ball into the box from the left flank via Jens Odgaard.
But the real villain of that farce would be Noah Atubolu, who failed to hold Nicolo Cambiaghi’s direct shot at him, allowing the quick-thinking Orsolini to smash in on the rebound.
Bologna looked strong, but with referee Nenad Minakovic having awarded a penalty or shown a red card in his last three UEL matches, there was always the potential for a plot twist.
And one duly arrived immediately after Skorupski pulled off an early save of the competition contender from Derry Scherhant’s header at the end of a corner, as a VAR review adjudged Castro to have handled inside the box a moment prior.
A penalty it was, and in the absence of Freiburg’s usual penalty taker, Vincenzo Grifo, after his half-time withdrawal, Junior Adamu sent Skorupski - who had saved an Ollie Watkins penalty on matchday one - the wrong way, rolling his spot kick into the bottom-left to open his UEL account for 2025/26.
With Freiburg now having a renewed sense of vigour, Skorupski was again sharp to prevent a goal directly from Jan-Niklas Beste’s inswinging corner near the three-quarter mark.
And the Polish stopper’s MVP credentials only grew from there, when a turnover in possession saw Johan Manzambi put Scherhant through, only for Skorupski to commit and palm it away, before doing likewise to Beste’s follow-up effort.
Overall, this was a classic game of two halves, and Freiburg once again showed their ability to be resilient on the continental scene, having now lost just one of their six most recent UEL group stage/league phase matches.
And while this will rightly seem like two points dropped for Bologna, they can take some solace in the fact that they have now lost just two of their 32 previous home games across all major European competitions (W17, D13).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lukasz Skorupski (Bologna)