SC Freiburg

Borussia will be looking to right two wrongs on the weekend. Not only are Daniel Farke’s side coming off the back of a painful 4-0 defeat in Mainz last time out, but they will also be hoping to get revenge for the 6-0 drubbing handed out by SC in their last trip to Borussia-Park. The Breisgauer had torn Gladbach to pieces inside 37 minutes on matchday 21 last season, recording their first three points in Mönchengladbach since 1995 and the biggest Bundesliga victory in the club’s history. “It’s good to finally have that win there under our belts. I’ve still never headed to Mönchengladbach with a bad feeling though. Even before the 6-0 win, we often had really good and closely fought encounters,” explained Streich.

Bayer Leverkusen, who, behind RB Leipzig, have scored the second-most goals on the counter in the league this season (six), sat deep in the initial stages, looking for any opportunity to break. Given that Moussa Diaby, who had recently been out due to an adductor injury, was back in the starting line-up for the first time in a while, it made sense that they employed such tactics early on. 

SC got through Group G unbeaten with 14 points having played Nantes, Qarabag und Olympiakos and qualified directly for the last 16.

SC, meanwhile, have been drawn against Juventus. “We’re very much looking forward to the game against Juve. It’s a real highlight for us. It’s a great club and I’ve never been to Turin. It will be a fantastic trip for us and for the fans,” head coach Christian Streich commented on the draw.  “However, right now, we’re focused on the game against Leverkusen.”

Quarterfinal draw in full:

The training camps have changed a lot over the years. In the past, we would have done three training sessions a day, but that’s not the case anymore. We’ve adapted the training camp sessions to fit the rhythm of our game during the season, and you can see the results for yourselves. Players don’t need quite as much recovery time; they’re fresher and fitter in the sessions and don’t get injured as often. That’s reflected in the performances they put in in training.

 “Hugo needs regular game time at this point in his career, which we couldn’t guarantee him for the time being, given how intense the fight for places in the team is,” explained sporting director Klemens Hartenbach. “As a result, the loan move, back to his homeland in Belgium, makes sense and comes at the right time.”

Freiburg are returning to Bundesliga action with three games in seven days. After their trip to Wolfsburg (Saturday, 21st January, 15:30 CET), they will host Eintracht Frankfurt (Wednesday, 25th January, 20:30 CET), and FC Augsburg (Saturday, 28th January, 15:30 CET). The final game of the three will also mark the start of the second half of the Bundesliga season.

As the new main sponsor, JobRad will receive a comprehensive advertising, hospitality and communication package. In addition, JobRad will remain the mobility partner of SC Freiburg and both parties will continue to break new ground. Together with the first team, the women’s team and the Freiburg Football School, various projects are planned around bicycles, e-bikes, sustainable transport and service bike leasing, which will be used to appeal to football and cycling enthusiasts alike.

Niko Kovac, head coach of the Wolves since the start of this season, made two alterations to his team. Patrick Wimmer and Jonas Wind were preferred to Kilian Fischer and Omar Marmoush.