Friday afternoon’s press conference ahead of the game took place just after the draw for the Europa League round of 16 had concluded. Freiburg are set to take on Belgian side KRC Genk – an opponent that SC head coach Julian Schuster holds in high regard: “It’s nice to be able to travel to Belgium. They have many interesting players, even if they’re having problems in the league.”

As appealing as the upcoming European trip may be, SC’s current focus is solely on the upcoming away match in Frankfurt. A few weeks ago, Spaniard Albert Riera took over as head coach from Dino Toppmöller and has so far recorded a balanced record with one win, one draw and last weekend’s narrow defeat against Bayern. “On the pitch you can see the things that are important to Riera. Their style of play requires a high level of versatility, which makes working against the ball more demanding,” said Schuster about Frankfurt’s current style of play.

One of the biggest challenges on Sunday is likely to be Frankfurt’s efficiency in front of goal so far this season. According to the 40-year-old, Frankfurt should be kept from getting into shooting positions as much as possible: “We want to prevent shots from happening in the first place or at least always get a foot in. The boys have done that well recently, and it would help to do that again this weekend.”
Schuster is confident that his side can take something home with them from Frankfurt, not just because of their organisation, but also their overall performances recently. “Our position in the table is reflective of the performances we’ve put in. The teams ahead of us have been more consistent, but considering the schedule we’ve had, we’re in a great position for the rest of the season.”

Philipp Lienhart and Lukas Kübler are expected to be gradually reintegrated back into the team as they recover from their respective injuries. Lienhart is back in training with the team, but is not an option for Sunday’s game. Kübler is still training individually.

SC will head to Frankfurt with the support of nearly 3,000 fans behind them.

Photo: Carsten Riedl