Borussia Dortmund had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Freiburg at the Europa-Park Stadion on Sunday, enduring nearly 45 minutes with 10 men after Jobe Bellingham’s costly red card.
The 20-year-old midfielder was shown a straight red in the 53rd minute for a last-man foul after Freiburg’s Philipp Treu dispossessed him following a shaky pass from Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
Despite Dortmund leading 1-0 at the time thanks to Ramy Bensebaini’s close-range finish from Yan Couto’s 31st-minute free-kick, the visitors were soon under pressure.
Carney Chukwuemeka also hit the post for Dortmund before the red card shifted the momentum firmly in Freiburg’s favour.
Freiburg capitalized when Lucas Holer struck a stunning scissor kick from Christian Gunter’s cross to level the scores. Igor Matanovic appeared to snatch a late winner, but VAR ruled Maximilian Eggestein offside in the build-up.
Bellingham’s dismissal marked only the second red card of his senior career in 153 appearances, the first coming in 126 matches in England for Sunderland against QPR in November 2024.
Freiburg dominated the remainder of the contest, taking 21 shots to Dortmund’s nine and posting a 1.51 to 0.93 expected goals advantage.
Despite the setback, Dortmund remain in strong form, having lost just one of their last 22 Bundesliga games (15 wins, six draws).
Bayern Munich is the only team in Europe’s top five leagues with fewer defeats during that span. Freiburg, meanwhile, stay in ninth place, leaving Dortmund unable to leapfrog RB Leipzig into second, still nine points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
