SC Freiburg Haberleri

“The relationship between Chicco and SC is an exceptional one in many regards. The experience he offers, as well as the way he simply goes about things, makes him a stalwart of our team. Off the pitch, Chicco takes responsibility for being one of the leaders in the squad,” said board member Jochen Saier. “We are over the moon to be continuing this relationship going forward.”

With 11 players away on international duty, SC were also without Patrick Osterhage due to a planned dental surgery. This allowed the coaching staff to give minutes to those players that hadn’t been able to feature much in the last weeks. Only Matthias Ginter, Maxi Eggestein, Vincenzo Grifo and Lukas Kübler retained their spots in the starting line-up following the 0-0 draw in Berlin at the weekend. Five players from the club’s U23s were named to the bench, alongside Manuel Gulde, who had been sidelined with back problems recently.

Noah Atubolu and Max Rosenfelder have both received call-ups to the Germany U21 national side for the upcoming friendlies against Denmark and France. In the contest against the latter, the two SC players will face their club teammate, Kiliann Sildillia, who has been selected for the France U21 squad once again. His team will also encounter the Italy U21s. Bruno Ogbus and Johan Manzambi will report for Switzerland U20 duty again, ready to take on the Czechia U20 side in a friendly clash.

The Freiburg head coach named the same starting eleven from the goalless draw in Mainz last time out. The hosts meanwhile made just one alteration, as Yorbe Vertessen came in for Jordan Siebatcheu.

Head coach Julian Schuster’s side will return to league action in Januaryy with a double game week, starting with a home game against promoted Holstein Kiel (11th Januaryy, 15:30 CET). They will end the first half of the season away at Eintracht Frankfurt on 14th Januaryy. The second half of the season will begin with a trip to VfB Stuttgart on 18th Januaryy, before SC host Bayern München a week later at the Europa-Park Stadion.

SC Freiburg have a long tradition of playing friendlies against these regional neighbours. Two years ago,...

The SC coach then turned his attentions to Friday evening, stating that his team are coming up against a “real tight-knit unit” in Union. “Last season was a difficult one for them, but they’re now back to how I’ve always known them. They defend with passion and their results reflect that. They keep things tight – creating chances against them is hard.”

SC made three changes to the starting eleven from the 2-1 DFB-Pokal second-round victory over Hamburger SV. Noah Atubolu returned in goal and Ritsu Doan started on the right of midfield after recovering from illness, while Junior Adamu spearheaded the attack. Florian Müller, Maximilian Philipp and Michael Gregoritsch dropped to the bench. Jonathan Burkardt was a surprise inclusion in the starting line-up for the visitors, as he has been struggling with thigh problems recently.

Head coach Kniat Mitch’s side are on a good run of form at the minute. They are currently in second place after 12 matchdays in the third division, and have already eliminated higher-ranked opponents from the DFB-Pokal this season. Arminia’s first-round game saw them knock out Hannover 96 (Bundesliga 2), while they triumphed over Bundesliga outfit 1. FC Union Berlin in the second round.

Mainz, meanwhile, were eliminated in the second round following a 4-0 defeat at home at the hands of FC Bayern. The 05ers have struggled on home soil this season, picking up just two of their nine points in the Bundesliga at the MEWA Arena.