scfreiburg.com: Yannik, four league games, one cup game, zero defeats. An ideal start to the season?

Yannik Keitel: We’ve picked up eight points from our first four Bundesliga games, so we can’t complain, I would say. Important thing now is to carry on like this.

The Köln game was tight until the very end. What did you make of the 1-1 draw?

The game was a bit up and down for us, we had some good phases, but also some not-so-good ones. In the end, 1-1 was a fair result. Sure, we had a few more chances at the end, could have made it 2-1, but on the whole we can be pleased with the draw and to still be unbeaten.

It’s been a good start to the season for you on a personal level too: Five games, five starts. How do you feel in this new role?

Great (smiles). Obviously it was my personal goal before the season to play as much as possible, so it’s a real positive that it’s working out this early on. I am trying to continue working hard and earning my spot in the starting XI again every week.

At 21 years old, you were the youngest player in the squad on Saturday – Nico Schlotterbeck and Wooyeong Jeong are a couple of months older than you. Still, with six U23 players joining the pros this summer, you are not one of the really young ones any more. How old do you feel?

The youngest always have to go in the middle when we play a rondo, and it’s nice to not always be the one starting in the middle now. But I don’t feel old yet either (smiles).

Kevin Schade made his Bundesliga debut around three weeks ago, then Noah Weißhaupt this weekend. How closely do you watch the lads who have come through the Freiburg academy?

Taking six players from the academy instead of acquiring external players – that’s a statement in itself and for me it epitomises SC Freiburg a bit. I’m always delighted to see my friends from the academy take the step to becoming pros and make their Bundesliga debuts. I do follow their progress closely and try to give them advice where I can, not least because I had a very similar journey.  

You’ve been at SCF for more than half your life. Are you still in close contact with the academy? 

The pandemic meant I couldn’t just pop in every now and then to see how everyone was, but I still speak to a lot of the players regularly. Enzo Leopold and Sascha Risch were with me almost every step of the way through the academy – I’ve been in every age group team with Sascha since the U12s.

The Freiburg U23s gained promotion earlier this year. How into the 3. Liga are you?

I watch every game and support the lads. If I’m not watching, I’m following a live ticker. I’ve also been to watch the odd game at the Dreisamstadion and I really enjoy it.

Watching the first team is enjoyable too: On Saturday you’re away to Mainz. What are you expecting there?

Mainz have also had a superb start to the season, they’re in great form, defend well and are dangerous going forward. We should definitely expect a real battle in Mainz.

What will we need to do in order to keep our unbeaten run going?

We need more stability, but we can go there with confidence and have no reason to hide. We’re just going to go for it and see what happens.