“We’re used to the schedule and the style of knockout football from last season. That’s an advantage for us. We know what we need to do and what’s important for us when it comes to keeping our focus,” explained Julian Schuster, with the head coach sharing his initial thoughts on Freiburg’s start to the season. His side face four competitive fixtures in the space of ten days, with the next two determining how many competitions SC will be competing in over the coming months.

The first of those four games came on Thursday evening away at Scottish side Motherwell. An early goal from Regan Charles-Cook came as an initial shock in the first leg of the Conference League play-off, but a disciplined performance ultimately saw SC run out 3-1 winners. “It helps to make a positive start and take a good feeling into the next game,” said the head coach, a day on from the victory. “That’s important both for the second leg, but also for the next challenge in two days’ time.”

Said challenge sees Schuster’s side back on the road. They face recently relegated 3. Liga side Fortuna Düsseldorf, with a place in the second round of the DFB-Pokal at stake. Following an eventful summer transfer window, the side from the Rhineland have lost their opening two games in the third tier. As such, the desire to pull off a cup upset is likely to be greater than ever within Alexander Ende’s squad. “They’ll approach the game highly motivated, have plenty of quality in their ranks and have already found a certain rhythm through their first two league games,” said Schuster on the upcoming opponents.

Last season, Freiburg’s cup run stretched deep into the spring, only coming to an end with a dramatic semi-final defeat at VfB Stuttgart. Now, the long and often exciting road to Berlin begins once again. “We’re feeling the excitement regarding the DFB-Pokal. We have an interesting challenge ahead of us against a very historic club,” said the 41-year-old.

Photo: Carsten Riedl