For many German clubs, the first round of the DFB-Pokal is a special game, perhaps even the highlight of their season. When the draw for the first round of the cup takes place, representatives of many lower-league clubs get excited about the prospect of facing an elite opponent like FC Bayern, Borussia Dortmund or Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The chance to host one of the best teams that German football has to offer is a dream for a multitude of clubs.

One such side to approach this season’s draw with feverish excitement was fourth-division outfit Lotte, with the club even holding a public viewing party at the Stadion am Lotter Kreuz. When their match with SC was confirmed during July’s draw, head coach Fabian Lübbers was pleased. “Freiburg are a likeable club, who have just finished fifth in the Bundesliga and will be playing Europa League football next season. It’s an exciting draw, which I’m really looking forward to.” The municipality of Lotte is advertising the upcoming cup game in their events calendar as the ‘DFB-Pokal thriller against SC Freiburg.’

A passionate group

The occasion marks Lotte’s sixth season competing in the DFB-Pokal, having lost in the first round four times and made the quarter-finals in 2016/17. The SC squad, accompanied by 2,100 fans, will travel to Lotte for the first time in the club’s history, although the region won’t be entirely unfamiliar. Last season’s DFB-Pokal saw Freiburg visit VfL Osnabrück in the first round – only ten minutes away from Lotte.  

While Lotte have already got their league season underway, the first round of the DFB-Pokal, as is the case every year, marks the first competitive game for SC. The Freiburg coaching team have been able to analyse Lotte’s games so far this season in order to gain a good understanding of their opponents: “As a group, they are incredibly passionate, and a lot of their play is well-drilled. They have a lot of different set-piece routines and can be very creative within these. Some of the boys could definitely play in a higher division, and so they definitely have individual quality as well. We are totally focused on this game against Lotte.”

Who could start?

An exciting question at SC concerns who will make it into the starting XI for the new season. The coaching staff will be without Max Rosenfelder and Philipp Treu for the cup game, with both still in rehabilitation training after their respective injuries. One position has already been decided – Noah Atubolu will start in goal in the first competitive game. “This is the way we’ve always done things. The goalkeeper who starts in the league also starts in the first round of the cup. Last season, Noah was injured, and so Flo Müller started.”

The first competitive game will also serve as an intriguing opportunity to watch SC’s new signings in action. Head coach Julian Schuster emphasised: “It already feels like the new signings have been here much longer than a few weeks. They are all great personalities, who have integrated brilliantly, and all of them are showing the qualities we recognised when we decided to bring them to Freiburg.” The squad is big, but in Schuster’s eyes, that’s an advantage: “We have a lot of players, but with that a lot of options, and can utilise the boys differently for each individual game plan.”

SC wrapped up their squad planning early in the summer, which gave the team ample time to get to know each other before the start of the competitive season. “For us, it’s just fantastic. We were able to integrate the new faces early, and they themselves were able to get to grips with everything early,” said Schuster, who therefore described Freiburg’s pre-season as “very satisfying”. All in all, there’s a good mood at the club ahead of the competitive season kicking off on Saturday.

Photo: SC Freiburg