VfL Wolfsburg are the visitors this Sunday as Sport-Club turn their focus back to the Bundesliga between the two UEFA Europa League semi-final ties against SC Braga. The Wolves go into the weekend six points off 15th place, which would guarantee survival – a huge task with only three games left to play.

Dieter Hecking’s side do, however, travel to FC St. Pauli on the final day. The Hamburg club currently have one point more than VfL and occupy the relegation play-off spot, meaning there is still genuine hope in Wolfsburg that they can stay up. “I’m expecting opponents who will throw everything at it. Everything is on the line for them, and that’s how they’ll approach the game,” said Julian Schuster of Freiburg’s next visitors.

The reverse fixture in Wolfsburg shortly before Christmas was a real thriller for the travelling Freiburg fans, with their side twice coming from behind before eventually winning 4-3.

Vincenzo Grifo was among the scorers in Wolfsburg, converting from the spot. That was no coincidence: the Wolves have given away 13 penalties this season, a new negative club record for them in the Bundesliga. Goalkeeper Kamil Grabara has saved three of them.

Two hard-running sides

A key factor on Sunday will be how quickly Freiburg can recover from Thursday’s intense game. “The first impression is that most of the players have come through it very well,” said Schuster. “So we’ll see who has the necessary freshness for Sunday and make our decisions accordingly.” SC and VfL are among the teams who cover the most ground per game on average: SC sit third in that ranking with 121 kilometres per match, while Wolfsburg are fifth on 119.4 kilometres.

This fixture, sandwiched as it is in between two historic highlights for the club, is also a psychological challenge. “From Saturday, our full focus will be on Wolfsburg,” said Maximilian Eggestein shortly after the final whistle late on Thursday night in Portugal. “It’ll do us good to finally have a home game again after three away matches. We want to win in the league and prepare for the second leg in the best possible way.” The coaching staff and the players will be counting on the home crowd both for the third-to-last league game and for Thursday’s semi-final second leg, as Schuster emphasised: “Of course we need our fans – they can bring every last bit out of us.”

Photo: SC Freiburg