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The home end will once again be sold out this weekend for the visit of Augsburg. The away side, whose captain is former SC man Ermedin Demirovic, picked up their first win of the new season last time out as they came from behind to beat Mainz 05. “Getting the three points against Mainz was really important, but now we want to build on that in Freiburg. We have prepared well,” said their coach Enrico Maaßen at his pre-match press conference.
His opposite number, Christian Streich, feels that FCA are “a side always ready for a battle.” He expects them to play with confidence and belief after the win over Mainz and a good performance, albeit without the right result, in Leipzig. “It will be a really close and tough game,” stated the SC boss, who wants his team to “play with the same discipline and desire” as they did in Frankfurt. “I won’t be too worried if we are then also creative in the final third too,” he added.
The chances for goals are there
Freiburg can also go into this game full of confidence, which Streich has described as “an important match” for the club. The team put in a good performance in the goalless draw in Frankfurt last weekend, covering 123 kilometers. “We played well and created some really good chances,” praised Streich.
The 58-year-old head coach felt that Freiburg would have been good value for the win, which they looked to have secured just before the final whistle when Junior Adamu found the back of the net. However, Adamu was offside and the goal didn’t stand – although Streich realised it wouldn’t be given right away, his fellow coaches were still celebrating. “We have had quite a few chances this season which we would have taken last season,” admitted Streich. “The important thing, however, is that we are actually creating these opportunities.”
Maximilian Philipp has already shown this season that he doesn’t need many chances to score. The attacker is yet to start a game but that could change this weekend. “Milli hurt his knee in the warm-up against Dortmund and hasn’t been at 100% since. He may well be fit to make the starting XI though on Sunday,” revealed Streich. Michael Gregoritsch is back in team training after his recent injury and is also an option to start against his former side. Central midfielder Nicolas Höfler remains unavailable as he serves the second match of his three-game suspension for a red card.
Photo: Achim Keller
