The Freiburg players turn their trip to Lower Saxony into a stay of several days. After the Bundesliga match in Wolfsburg, they will stay nearby because they play in the cup in Osnabrück on Tuesday. The English week and a number of personnel question marks could ensure that players who have had to watch a lot of matches recently will get a chance to play again.
Coach Christian Streich thinks it’s “great” that SC Freiburg are the only unbeaten Bundesliga team and thus also belong to a select group in Europe. This is only “a snapshot, but it shows a tendency”. The team has “developed and gained a certain amount of self-confidence”, it is stable, and the 16 points scored so far by the fourth-placed team in the table are deserved. Streich is satisfied with all parts of the team. “When you have a good number of goal chances, it often has something to do with the centre-backs,” he explained, “and when you don’t allow many goal chances, it always has a lot to do with the attackers.”
In the away game in Wolfsburg on Saturday, he wants to see exactly this “holistic” again, “because that promises us the greatest success”. Then, he said, VfL will have a hard time being the first team to defeat Sport-Club this season. Streich identified “problems” with the next opponent in his match analysis, but he only wants to discuss them with his players, “out of respect for Wolfsburg” and because he doesn’t want to “reveal too much”. “They still have enough experience, but they are not consolidated,” said the SC coach.
The fact that Freiburg are at the beginning of this season is due to their well-rehearsed squad, which has also gained in width and quality. This was shown not least by the substitutes’ bench in the home game against Leipzig, which was filled with many well-known regulars from last season. However, that could also be a “snapshot” and look different again on Saturday, according to Streich. After all, it is not yet clear whether Roland Sallai (knee knock), Lukas Kübler (after an infection) and Nils Petersen (knee problems), who has just joined the ranks of the injured players, will be able to play at all.
Jobsharing between Sildillia and Kübler?
On the other hand, some are also waiting to get another chance. The fact that 19-year-old Kiliann Sildillia was surprisingly given the nod in the Bundesliga against Leipzig also shows others in the squad “how quickly things can move in football”, the SC coach thinks. However, none of the more experienced players were really considered after the double loss on the right side. And that’s why in Wolfsburg either the young Frenchman or Kübler will play the position again. “Maybe they’ll do a job share,” Streich said, referring to the two upcoming games in the Bundesliga and the cup.
Other hopes could also be pinned on Tuesday night’s match in Osnabrück, who have been on the outside lately. Although the players would realise that there were not many reasons for changes because of the successes, the SC coach also knows that they are not satisfied. The question of what he can offer “the individual player who has not been used so much” takes up a lot of time from match preparation, he admitted.
From 30 October, the 2G conditions will also apply in Freiburg’s stadium
For both away games in Wolfsburg and at Bremer Brücke in Osnabrück, the 2G rule (admission only for vaccinated and recovered persons) will apply to spectators, which will also come into force at the club’s own stadium the following weekend. As the Sport-Club officially announced on Thursday, the 2G conditions will also apply in Freiburg from the home match against Fürth (30 October), making it possible to fill the stadium to capacity and activating the 25,000 season tickets. For the SC U 23 in the 3rd division and the SC Bundesliga women, however, the 3G regulation will continue to apply.