“Quick recovery” was the phrase that Maximilian Eggestein used straight after the Europa League win against OGC Nice. Recovery seems to be an Eggestein speciality – he is yet to miss a minute across SC’s 15 competitive matches so far this season. The team had to begin their recovery in Nice ahead of Sunday’s game, as bad weather delayed their flight back to Freiburg.

It's been a long time since SC have played at home – Sunday’s game will be a return to the Europa-Park Stadion after four consecutive away fixtures. “We’re playing against a dangerous side. There’s always a bit more tension in a side that’s on a bit of a negative run,” said Eggestein about the upcoming opponent. “We don’t want it to go the same way as last year’s home game.”

St. Pauli played very defensively in that game and looked to hit SC on the counter-attack, eventually running out as 3-0 winners. Philipp Treu featured in that game in September last year wearing the colours of St. Pauli. “Pauli punished SC’s mistakes ruthlessly that game,” Treu recalled. This Sunday, he’s looking for a different result: “I know Pauli are having a tough time at the moment, but we also need three more points in the Bundesliga,” said the 24-year-old, who is looking forward to reuniting with his old teammates: “I had two great years at St. Pauli and I’m looking forward to the game.”

Struggles in the league
After avoiding relegation last season, the Hamburg based side had a strong start to the campaign, going three games unbeaten – one of which was a derby win against Hamburger SV. Fans of the 15th place side have been waiting six games to see their side win just a point. Since the matchday three win over FC Augsburg, Alexander Blessin’s team have tasted nothing but defeat, as well as going four league matches without scoring. Treu advises caution though: “Those losses were all close games. We should still be wary.”

Things haven’t gone perfectly for SC in the league either. Although they’ve only lost one of the last five (away to Leverkusen), Freiburg are without a win since there trip to Bremen and sit just three points ahead of their upcoming opponents. In contrast, things are going well in Europe, with the win in Nice hopefully giving the team some confidence: “We want to carry that positive feeling from the Europa League into the Bundesliga,” said Julian Schuster. “Sunday’s game is very important for us and we need to bring all our strength together. We want to have control over the game, both with and without the ball.”

Despite the run of four away games in twelve days and the physically demanding weeks recently, the coaching staff have few absences to deal with. Only Eren Dinkci is unavailable on Sunday. “The boys are fit despite the high workload and all the travel,” said Schuster.

Most players will get a short breather after the game against St. Pauli, as next week is the final international break of the year. SC return to action on November 22nd with a trip to face Bayern München.

Celebrating Günter

Christian Günter will be honoured before the game. SC’s captain, who equalled Andreas Zeyer’s club record 440 competitive appearances in the DFB-Pokal game against Düsseldorf, will be given a special ceremony in front of the home crowd. With one more appearance, Günter will become SC’s all time record appearance maker. The Freiburg local also wants to thank the fans for their support over the years by offering 5,440 litres of free drinks at the stadium.

Photo: SC Freiburg