SC Freiburg

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.”

Making the longest away journey having already won the group

Another contrast was that of the positions of the two sides before kick-off. Whilst SCF had already safely secured their place in the Europa League round of 16 as Group G winners with one game to spare last Thursday, Gurban Gurbanov’s side found themselves playing for second place in the group, fighting against Nantes who faced the already-eliminated Olympiacos at the same time.