There are five teams still unbeaten in this season’s league phase of the UEFA Europa League and two of those sides are set to go head-to-head in Plzeň this Thursday evening. SC will be without Eren Dinkci, Max Rosenfelder and Jordy Makengo for the trip, who all miss out due to muscle problems. According to head coach Julian Schuster, however, all three will be available to feature during his team’s Bundesliga fuxture away to 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Sunday.

Those preparing for action with SC are understanding of the demands on the body that the cold night in Czechia will no doubt pose. “It should be a physical one, so we all need to be up to scratch,” analysed Niklas Beste, adding: “I have watched a couple of videos and noticed they often try to break up their opponents’ rhythm, also by committing the odd foul.” His coach also reiterated the expected physicality of the clash that awaits: “The way we go into challenges will be important tomorrow – we will need to give as good as we get.”

Small stadium to house a sold-out away section

The SC players may find their surroundings somewhat unusual in the 11,000-seater stadium tomorrow, with the Doosan Arena small by German standards. However, that has not put a dampener on Freiburg captain Christian Günter’s excitement ahead of the contest: “Every continental fixture is an experience. It is great that we have two further away trips to make and we are looking forward to the support from the fans.” 900 Freiburg fans will provide their backing to the side in Czechia and the away section is thus sold out.

Günter was part of the previous contingent of SC players to travel to Czechia. Nearly 12 years to the day, Christian Streich guided his team to a 2-1 win over FC Slovan Liberec. “Unfortunately, we didn’t make it out of the group stage back then but hope to take a step towards the knockouts this time around,” remembers SC’s record appearance holder.

Julian Schuster has a broad selection of players at his disposal, despite the absentees, and is pleased that is the case. “The next few weeks present a busy schedule and a number of tough tests. We are therefore very thankful to have options.” The fixture away in Plzeň is Freiburg’s second in the space of three days and is bound to be a special one, with temperatures around zero Celcius sure to feel a lot warmer as a result of the heated atmosphere.

Photo: SC Freiburg