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Motherwell will need a miracle result in Freiburg after a 3-1 home loss in the Conference League play-off. Three goals conceded from set pieces all but ended Motherwell’s hope of making the league stage for the first time. A superb opener from Regan Charles-Cook offered early hope but the visitors cruised to a comprehensive win. Alfred Johansson returned to a familiar starting eleven although injuries to Oscar Priestman and Johnny Kourtoumbis made space for Jamie Knight-Lebel and Joe Hodge. The team was delivered of a huge early boost when Charles-Cook opened the scoring inside two minutes. After some intricate passing in defence Emmanuel Longelo raced down the left to deliver a low cross that Charles-Cook side-footed into the net. What a start! Freiburg shrugged off any disappointment and set to their task. They had Motherwell pressed back deep in defence and Alex Paulsen was regularly tested. Igor Matanovic had the best of their efforts until they got the equaliser just before the half hour. From a free kick deep on the left Matthias Ginter rose above the masses in the centre of the penalty area to head wide of Paulsen. A long mysterious VAR check followed but the goal stood. Motherwell recovered somewhat as the second half got underway. There was more of an attacking intent but the threat of the Freiburg team was always there. Any misplaced passes were snapped up and there were no threats on the Backhaus goal. The visitors got a bit of a present when Martin Moorman gave Yannik Engelhardt an ill-advised touch as he ran in on goal. The referee awarded a penalty and a yellow card but on review a red was issued. When Ginter stroked the ball into the net the Steelmen were behind. Johansson rang the changes but it became clear that an escape without further loss would be seen as a decent outcome. Motherwell survived until the last of the five additional minutes but they lost a crucial third goal following a corner kick. Keisuke Goto headed into the net to crush any remaining hope from the big home crowd. There was no lack of effort but a realisation that Motherwell had met their match. Good luck next week! Motherwell 1 Freiburg 2 Attendance: 8,945 Team: Paulsen, Moorman, Knight-Lebel, Girwood-Reich (O’Donnell 77), Hodge (Whyte 76), Longelo, Fadinger, Lowry (Wilson 70), Charles–Cook (Palmer-Houlden 46), Said, Maswanhise (Vogt 70) Thursday 20 August 2026