Both of last season’s clashes with the record champions were emotional rollercoasters, with Vincent Kompany’s side ultimately coming out on top in both fixtures. SC had looked like having their opponents on the brink of defeat in both the home and away games alike.

Freiburg had earned a 2-0 lead in both matches, but Bayern were able to come back on both occasions. Whilst SC were ultimately on the receiving end of a 6-2 defeat at the Allianz Arena, it took FCB until the ninth minute of injury time before Lennart Karl sealed Bayern’s victory at the Europa-Park Stadion with a long-range effort.

SC are heading into their clash with the side currently sat top of the table off the back of a difficult week. They suffered a narrow and unlucky defeat at Bayer Leverkusen, before failing to pick up points away in Monaco. “Unfortunately, we lost both of those games. Our performance against Leverkusen was better than that against Monaco. In general, we weren't able to use those two games to build up more confidence heading into Sunday,” summed up Julian Schuster, speaking ahead of this weekend’s difficult fixture.

The 41-year-old was particularly frustrated with how the goals were conceded in those two matches. “We need to fix that as soon as possible and do better against Bayern. We’re not too far off the mark, but there are a few things we need to execute better, especially against an opponent of this quality,” said Schuster, knowing that the game against FCB will be “the biggest challenge out of the three.”

At the same time, Schuster - who may have to do without Yannik Engelhardt on Sunday after he was taken off early in the game against Monaco - also sees an opportunity in the two losses: “In the past, moments like this have sharpened our focus on the tasks ahead.”

Photo: SC Freiburg