Motherwell FC's UEFA Europa Conference League qualification journey ended with a 7-2 aggregate defeat to German side SC Freiburg. The Scottish Premiership side were eliminated in the second leg, a result that books Freiburg's place in the competition's league phase.
The tie was effectively sealed early in the second leg when Derry Scherhant scored for Freiburg, assisted by Maximilian Eggestein. Motherwell goalkeeper Alex Paulsen was beaten by the 23-year-old winger's effort. The visitors pulled a goal back through Emmanuel Longelo, capitalising on a mistake by Freiburg goalkeeper Mio Backhaus. That was a rare bright spot in a half where Sebastian Palmer-Houlden had Motherwell's only other chance, denied by Backhaus after he replaced the substituted Noah Atubolu. Freiburg's Yuito Suzuki was a standout, creating several chances, and Cyriaque Irie hit the crossbar just before halftime.
Motherwell's task grew harder when Australian defender Jake Girdwood-Reich was sent off for a last-man challenge on Scherhant. This mirrored the first leg, where Martin Moormann's red card forced Motherwell to play the final 25 minutes with ten men. After the dismissal, Paulsen denied Scherhant from the resulting free-kick. But the German winger then provided two assists from corners within five minutes. Igor Matanović scored from the first, and Cyriaque Irie netted his first goal for the club from the second, putting Freiburg 6-2 up on aggregate.
With the tie won, Freiburg manager Julian Schuster made strategic changes. He substituted key players Yuito Suzuki, Igor Matanović, Derry Scherhant, and Matthias Ginter to rest them for an upcoming Bundesliga match against Werder Bremen. Despite the changes, Freiburg continued to press. The Motherwell goal frame was struck twice in quick succession, and substitutes Vincenzo Grifo and Cyriaque Irie both had clear-cut chances. Keisuke Goto, the club's new 21-year-old Japanese signing, added a late goal five minutes from time. Goto also scored late in the first leg and had previously scored on his UEFA Europa League debut for Anderlecht.
Attention now returns fully to domestic duties. Motherwell currently sit 5th in the Scottish Premiership with 4 points from their opening two games, recording one win and one draw. Their recent form reads DW, and they have scored 2 goals while conceding just 1. They are five points behind early leaders Celtic. The next fixture is a home match against Dundee, who are 3rd in the table, on December 19th. Fans can track the team's progress on our standings page and view the full schedule on our fixtures list. The European exit is a setback, but the early league form provides a platform to build upon.
