Motherwell will head to Germany on Thursday night needing a strong response after Freiburg came from behind to win 3-1 in the first leg of their Europa Conference League play-off at Fir Park.
Regan Charles-Cook gave Motherwell the ideal start when he scored in the second minute, but Freiburg drew level through Matthias Ginter on 27 minutes before the match turned in the visitors' favour after a straight red card for Martin Moormann following a VAR review on 65 minutes.
From there, Motherwell were left to chase the game against last season's Europa League finalists, and Keisuke Goto sealed Freiburg's win with a stoppage-time header to make it 3-1.
Johansson: Motherwell will go to Germany with belief
Motherwell boss Alfred Johansson struck an upbeat tone despite the result, saying his focus is on the performance his side can produce in Germany. He said the only thing he is occupied with is going down there to do everything they can in a good performance, and that his team will fancy their chances to do something.
Johansson also pointed to the way Motherwell have handled the tie so far, adding that the players have done really, really well and that the team knows it can do things now. He said Motherwell will show no fear and no respect, while also acknowledging that it is not the best result to take into the second leg and that Freiburg will be a really tough opponent.
Motherwell reached the play-off round after getting past HB Torshavn and HJK Helsinki in qualifying, so the trip to Germany is another major test of their European run. The first-leg defeat means they now need to overturn a two-goal deficit on Thursday night if they are to keep their Europa Conference League campaign alive.
