SC Freiburg

The Freiburg coaching staff made five changes to the side which started the defeat away to Borussia Dortmund at the weekend, setting up in a 4-4-2 formation. Outfield, Kiliann Sildillia, Daniel-Kofi Kyereh, Lucas Höler and Ritsu Doan were replaced by Maximilian Eggestein, Roland Sallai, Wooyeong Jeong and Michael Gregoritsch, whilst Noah Atubolu replaced Mark Flekken in goal, as was the case against St. Pauli in the previous Pokal round.

At the press conference this Thursday, Christian Streich answered the media’s questions, but on Saturday the SC coach will not be allowed on the sideline after his second yellow against Borussia Dortmund. “Julian Schuster will be there on the touchline, Lars Voßler will take my place and I will watch the game on a screen,” explained Streich, who is banned from half an hour before until half an hour after the final whistle and is not allowed to communicate with the team during this period.

SC Freiburg wish Kofi all the best for a speedy recovery! 

There was some bad news for SC Freiburg the day before the game, as Daniel Kofi-Kyereh, who twisted his knee in training on Thursday, was diagnosed with having torn his cruciate ligament, ruling the midfielder out for the rest of the season. All the best with your recovery, Kofi! 

This run of wins has catapulted the Blue-Whites from 18th place out of the relegation zone. SC will now be taking on the fifteenth-placed team in the Bundesliga on matchday 21, and Streich expects “a big fight” ahead of them – with the DFB-Pokal quarter-final at the beginning of March 2022 still fresh in the memory. “There will be lots of long balls from their goalkeeper Manuel Riemann towards Philipp Hofmann, one of the best headers of the ball in the Bundesliga. Then there will be second balls and it is about being assertive here.”

Head coach Christian Streich made just one change to the starting XI following last weekend’s 2-1 derby win against VfB Stuttgart. Roland Sallai was on the bench as Lucas Höler replaced him in attack, alongside Gregoritsch. Bochum were without Gerrit Holtmann (knee operation), who had been a thorn in Freiburg’s side when the two sides met earlier this season (1-0 win for SC).

The draw was done at the German Football Museum in Dortmund by SGS Essen player Jaqueline Meißner, who didn’t grant SC their wish of a home tie. Christian Streich’s side will face FC Bayern, the reigning German champions, away from home. Freiburg have made hard work of all three cup ties so far this season, needing extra time against both Kaiserslautern and St. Pauli, and scoring late on in the win at Sandhausen. Bayern, on the other hand, have been extremely convincing. They have beaten Viktoria Köln 5-0, FC Augsburg 5-2, and Mainz 4-0 last time out.

In contrast to the starting XI that beat Werder Bremen 2-0 last Saturday, Freiburg returned to a four-at-the-back system. Lukas Kübler started at right-back, and Kiliann Sildillia moved to the bench in place of Ritsu Doan. 

SC will play five games in the 15 days left before the mid-season break: four in the Bundesliga and one in the Europa League. “Winning our group has us feeling good, and we can fly to Azerbaijan with peace of mind,” Grifo said ahead of the team’s final group stage match in Baku next Thursday.

The Freiburg coaching team didn’t want to speculate too much over potential tactical changes under Reis. Other things were most important, as SC head coach Christian Streich outlined after the game, “We spoke about mentality and  attitude – and the team showed the right mentality and attitude from the start onwards.”