'You cannot disappear!' – Mohamed Salah speaks out after Trabzonspor streak shattered by Freiburg

Trabzonspor captain Mohamed Salah has urged his team-mates to stand together after their seven-match winning streak came to an end against Freiburg. The Turkish side suffered a 1-0 defeat in the UEFA Conference League, with Salah taking personal responsibility for missed opportunities.

Trabzonspor captain Mohamed Salah has called for unity after seeing his side's impressive seven-match winning streak snapped in a 1-0 home defeat against Freiburg. Lukas Kubler struck the decisive goal in the 14th minute of Thursday's UEFA Conference League clash, turning home a rebound after Andre Onana parried Junior Adamu's header.

The setback leaves both Trabzonspor and their German visitors level on six points after three matches in the competition.

Salah was at the heart of Trabzonspor's response, forcing saves from Mio Backhaus and seeing a late effort denied in stoppage time as the hosts failed to find an equaliser.

Speaking after the final whistle, Salah refused to shy away from his own performance, fronting up to media alongside team-mate Fabinho. "[Me and Fabinho] both know we weren’t at our best tonight," Salah admitted candidly.

"I had opportunities that I should have taken, and Fabinho knows he could have done better too."

"But that’s football. You cannot disappear when things go wrong. You have to stand together, especially on nights like this," the skipper demanded.

Trabzonspor head coach Thomas Reis echoed his captain's thoughts on the game's turning points while looking at the second-half improvement. "We conceded from a simple mistake. My team gave a very good response in the second half. Unfortunately, we ended up on the losing side," Reis noted.

Freiburg boss Julian Schuster praised both the host side's quality and the electric atmosphere inside the stadium.

"Trabzonspor are a high-quality side. They played with great alertness and energy," Schuster stated. "We were very active defensively and played with great aggression... securing these three points was crucial for us."

Despite seeing more of the ball in the second period, Trabzonspor were ultimately undone by a hesitant opening half-hour and missed opportunities from Paul Onuachu and Ernest Muci.

Reis' side will now look to quickly put the setback behind them as they manage their European and domestic workload.

"Now we just have to keep going. We have more games ahead of us," Reis concluded as Trabzonspor aim to resume their winning form in the next fixture.