SC have had around two weeks to prepare for their upcoming Bundesliga clash, following their derby win against VfB Stuttgart. In contrast to a normal international break, Christian Streich and his coaching staff had almost a full squad for the entire break, the only player to be off representing his country being Wooyeong Jeong, who qualified for the World Cup with his South Korea side. “The three-game week was pretty exhausting, so we’re glad to have been able to refill our tanks over the last couple of weeks,” said SCF’s head coach, summarising the last few days.

As well as moving training operations to the Europa-Park Stadion, the club made use of the break to play a friendly against SV Sandhausen. The 2-2 draw gave an opportunity for some players who may not have had as much game time in recent weeks to show themselves, as some key players were rested. Christian Streich, who was satisfied with his side’s performance on the day, described the way the team played as “very engaged”.

Streich’s team put in excellent performances in the two games before the break. The DFB-Pokal round of 16 tie with fellow Baden-Württemberg side TSG Hoffenheim ended 4-1 to SCF, with the game away against Stuttgart adding three points to the Bundesliga tally with a 2-0 win. The rewards for those victories: a quarter final against VfL Bochum in a month’s time and fifth place in the league table.

Freiburg will travel to a Köln side on Saturday who, under head coach Steffen Baumgart, play high-intensity football which has set them solidly in the top half of the table. “They play very quickly and come forward with an expanse of players. We will try to prepare our lads for what they do,” said Streich on preparations for is side’s forthcoming opposition, who will be without their head coach due to a positive Coronavirus test. Baumgart’s absence will not change Köln’s way of playing, Streich thinks: “They work in a similar way, even if his strong presence is not there. I don’t think him being absent will be a decisive advantage for us.”

Four points separate the two teams, who will be able to play in front of 10,000 fans at the RheinEnergieSTADION. A win will mean SCF are able to stretch the gap to their cathedral city opponents to seven points. To do that, though, Streich’s side will need to find the right ways around Köln’s strengths: “They really steam into games; you could see that in our game earlier this season. There will be a real wave of pressure facing us. They’ve played well so far this season with a lot of passion and aggression,” said Freiburg’s head coach.

In terms of personnel, SCF have almost no injury concerns. Apart from Kimberly Ezekwem and Nishan Burkart who are out, every player will be available for Saturday’s game.

Photo: Achim Keller