“It’s almost like the Champions League here,” raved Sandhausen head coach Olaf Janßen before kick-off, as he stepped out onto the perfectly-laid pitch at the Aubergstadion. Opposing boss Julian Schuster praised the 200 volunteers from Oberschopfheim for their “complete and utter dedication”. The village has a population of approximately 3,000, while around 4,000 fans travelled to the sold-out ground on Friday evening.

They didn’t have to wait long to see SC’s first goal of the 2025/26 season. With just two and a half minutes on the clock, Sandhausen goalkeeper Arthur Lyska spilled a shot from Derry Scherhant, allowing Lucas Höler to tap in the opener from close range. 15 minutes later, the scorer was involved once again. Niklas Beste netted the second after getting on the end of a through ball from Höler, who joined SCF from Sandhausen seven years ago.

The expression ‘completely fresh start’ would be very appropriate to describe SV Sandhausen. Following their relegation from the 3. Liga, the Baden-based side are going into their Regionalliga season with a squad entirely made up of new signings, save for their back-up goalkeeper. One of these new arrivals, Jahn Herrmann, who has arrived from FSV Zwickau, found himself through on Florian Müller’s goal around the halfway point of the first period. The goalkeeper got the better of him in the one-on-one, however. Soon after, his opposite number Lyska spectacularly saved a Höler header, and it remained 2-0 at the break.

Just as the first half did, the second period began in dramatic fashion. This time though, it was SVS who struck. Captain Pascal Testroet, who with nearly 500 competitive appearances is by far the most experienced member of the squad, nodded home from a corner. Freiburg needed time to settle after making eleven changes, and there was a long period without any real clearcut chances. In the 84th minute, Junior Adamu had an opportunity from around six yards out after being fed by Lukas Kübler. However, he fired narrowly wide of goal. Vincenzo Grifo then tested visiting ‘keeper David Zimmer from range, but there was to be no further additions to the scoreline.

After the game, many young SC fans collected autographs. The players who were rested after returning from international duty also spent time with the supporters to sign autographs and take selfies. These included new signing Yuito Suzuki and birthday boy Philipp Lienhart.

“It’s great that so many people were here, and that we could experience being in such close proximity to our fans,” said SCF head coach Julian Schuster after the game. “We started the game better than we finished it. Obviously, we should be aiming to play even better in a game like this, but I don’t want to be too critical today.”

SC will begin the busiest part of pre-season on Wednesday as they kick off their training camp in Schruns. Their next friendly will also take place in Austria. On Friday, 18th July (17:00 CEST), Freiburg will visit SCR Altach. That game will also be streamed live free of charge.

SC Freiburg first half: Müller – Treu, Jung, Steinmann, Günter – Beste, Eggestein, Philipp, Weißhaupt – Scherhant, Höler.

SC Freiburg second half: Huth – Kübler, Schopper, Ginter, Makengo – Amegnalo, Höfler, Osterhage, Grifo – Dinkci, Adamu.

Goals: 1-0 (3’) Höler, 2-0 (18’) Beste, 2-1 (47’) Testroet,
Referee: Tobias Reichel, Dominik Schaal, Najib Nasser
Attendance: 4,000

Photo: SC Freiburg