It has been almost exactly six years since Fortuna last played a home match in the cup and Freiburg’s previous competitive trip to Düsseldorf also dates back to that period. In the 2019/20 Bundesliga season, SC recorded a late 2-1 win at the Merkur Spiel-Arena thanks to a late goal from Luca Waldschmidt.

Wednesday brings the next meeting between the sides and the first-ever in the DFB-Pokal. Around 4,000 SC supporters are expected to make the journey to Düsseldorf, an impressive turnout given the late kick-off.

Rotation in a busy week?

“You always want to go as far as you can in the cup,” said Julian Schuster. “It will be important that we approach the game with full intensity after Leverkusen, and that we have the physical and mental freshness for it. That may well be reflected in the line-up.” Patrick Osterhage and Eren Dinkci will not feature on Wednesday evening. Philipp Lienhart, who is suspended for Saturday’s league match at Union Berlin, is eligible to play in the cup.

Speaking in the mixed zone at the BayArena on Sunday, Matthias Ginter explained what appeals to him about the competition: “In the cup, there’s only one game – you don’t get a second chance.” The defeat to Bayer Leverkusen was Freiburg’s first after an eight-match unbeaten run in all competitions. “I hope we can start a new run in Düsseldorf,” added Ginter.

Patience required

Freiburg had just 31% possession against a dominant Leverkusen side, but that is likely to change against the team currently sitting 13th in the 2. Bundesliga. With the ball, Schuster wants his players to “have the patience to create chances over the course of the game.”

Between the two fixtures in the Rhineland, the squad and staff discussed staying in the region rather than travelling back south, but ultimately opted to return to Freiburg and head north again on Tuesday. “We kicked off at 15:30 on Sunday, so we had the opportunity to fly back,” explained Maximilian Eggestein. “When you have four away games in a row, you’re glad to spend a night or two at home with your family in between.”

Photo: SC Freiburg