This might be the best season for Freiburg to finish in top 4 because Leverkusen made a quite bad start and started to recover really late. But Freiburg wasted this chance as well. After a fight with Union Berlin for this goal the winner was Union Berlin. Especially that loss against Union Berlin by 4-2 on the final weeks caused Freiburg to get behind more and lose their chance significantly.
I think Freiburg board must be satisfied with the work Freiburg have been doing so far anyway. They have already been not a regular in top 4 so being right behind that area is still success for them. As long as they maintain their game quality there should be no problem.
To say that Freiburg has wasted a chance this season after they have finished the Bundesliga season on rank 5 is a pretty weird statement. We should not forget where Freiburg is coming from. Historically it is a club that was relegated down to the second Bundesliga a few times already and the last time was not even that long ago. So every season where Freiburg does not have to fight to stay in the first Bundesliga over the whole 34 matchdays is a very very good one for them in my opinion.
I even think that the good result this year could be dangerous for them in the next season. They have to play Europa League as an additional load so if they have a bad start into the Bundesliga, then it could be a very stressful season for them. We will see.
Actually it isn't that weird because I wanted to emphasize that there was a significant chance to make it to top four for Freiburg. Because in Leverkusen's absence in this area there was a bigger chance for other teams to have a slot for the Champions League group stage. Union Berlin and Freiburg fight really hard for it but Freiburg couldn't make use of their chances efficiently on the final weeks of the season.
But I wouldn't like to mean like the position they finished at isn't success. It is of course success as they can finish right behind top 4. They don't have an incredible squad in the end so this is just really good work for them.