After the short winter break, the Bundesliga will kick off 2026 with a double gameweek, starting this weekend with freezing temperatures and lots of snow.

Since the return to training on 2nd January, SC have been preparing for their first competitive fixture of the new year against Hamburger SV on Saturday. Their final match of the first half of the season against RB Leipzig follows on Wednesday (14th January, 20:30 CET). Four days later, a trip to take on FC Augsburg (Sunday, 18th January, 17:30 CET) rounds off a busy return to league action after the break.

“I’m happy with the preparation that we’ve had,” said SCF head coach Julian Schuster ahead of the encounter with Hamburger SV. “Even though it’s been cold and snowing, we’ve not had any problems implementing the aims that we’ve set ourselves.” He added that, with this in mind, the decision not to hold a winter training camp in winter was the correct one.

Over the past week, the squad have used the short preparation time to get down to the nitty gritty and “quickly refocus on the things that make us stand out.” In the meantime, they completed a standard week of training with the emphasis on preparing for the upcoming opposition.

Hamburger SV, who were promoted back to the Bundesliga last year after seven seasons in the second tier, are sitting thirteenth in the table prior to their trip to the Europa-Park Stadion, with 16 points to their name after 15 matches – four fewer than ninth-placed Freiburg. Julian Schuster explained that Merlin Polzin’s side have already reestablished themselves in the Bundesliga. HSV, continued Schuster, are flexible on the ball, which often makes it difficult “to win possession and take control.” The Rothosen also count speed, in addition to pressing and counterattacking, among their strengths. “It makes Hamburg dangerous when they win the ball back, since they can cause real threats on the break with their pace.”

Ahead of the game, where concentration and keeping things tight at the back will be key, SCF have more defensive personnel available to them than before the winter break. In the first training sessions of the new year, the coaching staff welcomed nearly all of the squad back, including Philipp Lienhart, Max Rosenfelder, Eren Dinkçi and Niklas Beste, who picked up injuries at the end of 2025.

Other than Daniel Kofi Kyereh (rehabilitation), only Cyriaque Irié was absent for SCF. The attacker was with his Burkina Faso teammates at the African Cup of Nations in Morocco. On Tuesday, Irié and Co. fell to a 3-0 defeat against holders Côte d’Ivoire in the round of 16 and returned to Freiburg on Thursday. “It’s great that Cyriaque has been able to get some game time, that the boys were back on the pitch together here, and that we’ll have all the players at our disposal this weekend,” noted Schuster.

During the game, SC Freiburg will be looking to bag their first Bundesliga goal at the Europa-Park Stadion against Hamburger SV. Their last Bundesliga home match against HSV—a 0-0 draw—took place more than eight years ago in December 2017, when SCF were still playing at the Dreisamstadion. The past two competitive fixtures between the two sides were DFB-Pokal ties. In October 2024, SC qualified for the second round with a 2-1 win. Two-and-a-half years previously in April 2022, Freiburg won 3-1 in a semi-final clash at the Volksparkstadion and reached the DFB-Pokal final for the very first time as a result.

In the less distant past, SCF’s final game before the winter break was the incredible 4-3 victory against VfL Wolfsburg. Ahead of the first competitive fixture of 2026, Julian Schuster set a target for his side: “We want to build on what made us stand out before the winter break.”

Photo: SC Freiburg