After the longest away trip in the team’s history, now is the final away journey ahead of the winter break. Having taken on Qarabağ Ağdam in a Europa League game in Baku last week, the team now travel to RB Leipzig for the 14th Bundesliga matchday.

“We are travelling to Leipzig with tenseness but also with excitement,” said head coach Christian Streich. “If we can’t be excited in the current situation then we’re beyond help.”

After three 2-0 wins in a row in the league, SC Freiburg travel to Saxony. SC have won 14 out of 21 competitive games this season, and have only lost twice. The latest 2-0 win against 1. FC Köln on matchday 13 last Sunday was the eighth time in the Bundesliga without conceding, while the team also moved up to second in the table in the process.

Lots of success in a short stretch of time

That the team has managed to get into a successful rhythm of multiple gameweeks, with the team currently in the eighth multiple gameweek of the season so far, is based on the fact “that we have such a settled side,” according to Streich. Plenty of positive results have also provided necessary energy to the team. “We have had a lot of successful experiences, which obviously makes it easier. We have experienced some crazily great stuff in a short period of time,” said the SC coach. No small part of this is the five wins and a draw in their Europa League group, as the team progressed unbeaten in first place.

Like SC Freiburg, RB Leipzig have also guaranteed that they will be playing in European competition after the winter break. Leipzig finished second in the group and managed to reach the last 16 of the Champions League after winning 4-0 against Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw. The Bundesliga’s current sixth place side were drawn against Manchester City in Monday’s draw, and will face the reigning Premier League champions in February 2023.

Timo Werner, who re-joined Leipzig from Chelsea in August, suffered a syndesmosis ligament injury in the game against Shakhtar, and will miss the three groups before the winter break, as well as the World Cup in Qatar beginning on 20th November as a result.

Hosts also currently on a strong run

Currently, in the shape of Werner’s teammate Christopher Nkunku the Bundesliga’s top scorer wears RB Leipzig shirt. “Nkunku is an outstanding player. He has everything that an attacking player needs. But there are also good players playing alongside him,” observed Streich.

After the Champions League clash with Shakhtar, RB Leipzig won 3-1 against TSG Hoffenheim on the 13th Bundesliga matchday. This was the sixth Bundesliga game in a row unbeaten for the team now managed to Marco Rose, who took over from Domenico Tedesco in September. “We are expecting to have to work at the maximum and be fully forced to be able to be in the game,” said the SC head coach.

The team also need to avoid the distraction of thinking about the last meeting with Leipzig which was the DFB Pokal final in Berlin. “Completely honestly, I still haven’t thought about the cup final,” explained Streich. “It was such a huge experience for all of us in this enormous community of SC supporters. I don’t have revenge in mind.”

Kyereh to miss the game in Leipzig

Daniel-Kofi Kyereh was there as a spectator for the final in the Olympiastadion. The attacker moved from FC St. Pauli to SC Freiburg in the summer. Kyereh missed the last league game against 1. FC Köln due to an infection. The Ghana international will miss the trip to Leipzig for the same reason. He is expected to be available again for the final game before the Bundesliga winter break against 1. FC Union Berlin this coming Sunday (13th November, 17:30 CET). Kimberly Ezekwem is also still out with tendonitis).

The quality that SC’s penultimate opponent of the year have, according to Christian Streich, is clear not only from their deserved win in the Bundesliga against Hoffenheim, but is made especially clear by their 3-2 Champions League win against Real Madrid. “It is a big task,” said the Freiburg coach. “We need a good game, perhaps also a bit of luck. But we will travel there will courage, conviction and with some good results behind us.”

Photo: Achim Keller