It is a sometimes heavy, sometimes sweet burden that coach Christian Streich and his players have to shoulder in these eventful weeks. On the one hand, there are overwhelming statistics from the seven Bundesliga games this year, in which Sport-Club Freiburg was only able to win once, on January 20th: 3-2 at home against TSG Hoffenheim.
In contrast, there are four defeats and two draws for the South Baden team, who fell from potential European Cup place seven to ninth position. Setbacks that were at least made worth seeing by the spectacular draws in the home games against Eintracht Frankfurt (3:3) and against FC Bayern Munich last Friday (2:2).
Thin squad, tight program
The fact that the Freiburg team, as of today, are once again located in the region without European prospects, in which they were based up to and including the 2020/21 season, namely in the upper or lower middle of the table, does not surprise insiders.
The team, made up of a narrow squad with just 25 professionals, including five who were not yet fully integrated, had to struggle through the winter due to numerous injuries, especially to regular players Christian Günter, Mathias Ginter and Philipp Lienhart, and various illnesses which also included a European two-parter to qualify for the round of 16 of the Europa League.
After a 0-0 draw at northern French workers’ club RC Lens in the second leg in Freiburg, the club achieved a memorable victory with a furious 3-2 win in extra time after a 2-0 deficit.
Now, this Thursday evening at 9 p.m. (in the FAZ live ticker for the Europa League and on RTL), the team will once again face the London Premier League club West Ham United, Streich’s ensemble in the group games of the Europa League, in the round of 16 was defeated twice (1:2, 0:2).
When they see each other again in the Freiburg stadium, which seemed like a madhouse after the 2-2 draw against Munich, the sports club expects more – also because Streich now has a larger selection of players again, after Günter and Ginter have reported back and Lienhart at least in has returned to training.
SC Freiburg, which was eliminated from the Europa League last year after two good games despite defeats (0:1, 0:2) against the Italian record champions Juventus Turin, is confident of reaching the quarter-finals in a European competition for the first time against the Hammers .
“Enormous feat of strength”
So it may be that Freiburg’s high spirits will continue and the journey through Europe will continue after the second leg next Thursday. Streich also pointed out that “this year is a very hard year for us with very special experiences, but also a real dry spell.”
The European high and the highlight game against Munich do not cloud anyone in Freiburg’s view of the table situation. Prank, who like a number of his players recently came down with an infection, likes to refer to the “European Cup games, many of which we organized really well”.
But he also points out that the Thursday-Sunday-Thursday encounters are “a big challenge” given the high-energy Freiburg football on good days. “Especially when you have to deal with a lot of player injuries and illnesses. It really gets to the heart of the matter.” On the other hand, it’s “amazing fun because we like to play in a European way. We are very proud of it, but it is an enormous effort.”
For a team like SC Freiburg, appearances in the European Cup are anything but routine like in Munich or Dortmund. Maybe that’s a good thing, otherwise the momentum in the second leg against Lens might not have sparkled so brightly.
Roland Zorn, Freiburg Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1 Christopher Meltzer, Munich Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 8 Daniel Theweleit, Cologne Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 4
The Austrian Michael Gregoritsch, celebrated goalscorer in the 3-2 triumph over RC Lens, spoke afterwards of a “victory for eternity”. It was reminiscent of the former European Cup evenings of SV Werder Bremen under coach Otto Rehhagel, when the “miracles of the Weser” came true in their own stadium after some seemingly insurmountable deficits.
The European Cup venue Freiburg is not yet quite as mythical due to the lack of years of international experience, and yet this club, which has been small for years but is now part of the upper middle class of the Bundesliga, could continue to be at least a remarkable international success story.
If not this season, then perhaps next, as SC Freiburg is not that far away from the European places in the Bundesliga ten match days before the end of the season. “The moments are fleeting,” said sports director Jochen Saier to “Kicker” after the football drama against Lens, “it is important that you enjoy such evenings.” Possibly again this Thursday evening.
