Kicking off 2024 in Breisgau: 1. FC Union Berlin travel to Freiburg
In the first competitive game of 2024, and the conclusion of the first half of the season, 1. FC Union Berlin will travel to play away at SC Freiburg. Kick off at the Europa-Park-Stadion is on Saturday, 13. Dec, at 15:30.
The lie of the land
Having played 16 games so far in the Bundesliga season, Freiburg sit currently in eighth place in the table with 24 points having lost 3-2 in Heidenheim in their last game before the winter. Although Freiburg were 2-1 up until the 84th minute, Tim Kleindienst made it 2-2 shortly before the end before an own goal from Matthias Ginter in stoppage time sealed the win for Heidenheim.
The opponents
Freiburg have not lost at home since the fourth matchday, a 4-2 reverse in Dortmund in September, in which they let a 2-1 lead slip from their grasp, the game eerily mirroring Union’s own loss at the Westfalenstadion later on in the season. Their only other defeats have come against West Ham United and SC Paderborn in the UEFA Europa League and DFB Pokal respectively, both in front of a home crowd.
Since moving to their new stadium in October 2021, Christian Streich’s team have won 20 of their 38 Bundesliga matches; they’ve drawn ten and lost eight.
Union would do well to be wary of Michael Gregoritsch up top. In the last four league games, the Austrian has scored three goals and contributed one assist. He has been joined by Maximilian Eggestein, Ritsu Doan and Lucas Höler, who have played in all 24 competitive matches this season and scored a total of ten goals, among Freiburg’s ever-presents, but centre-forward Höler (SCF’s top scorer with five goals) will probably not be in the squad on Saturday due to injury.
SC face two Europa League play-off matches against RC Lens to reach the last 16 in the UEFA Europa League, having finished the group stage in second place, with twelve points from four wins and two draws securing a place in the next round.
A return to Freiburg
Janik Haberer returns to his long-time home for the second time since moving to the capital in 2022. He made 171 appearances in six years in Freiburg.
The head-to-head
There have been 14 encounters between 1. FC Union Berlin and SC Freiburg so far. Including eight meetings in the first division. In the Bundesliga, Union have won four matches, while Freiburg have taken the three points twice. In two duels there was no winner. Last season, the Irons conceded a 4-1 defeat at Freiburg in the first leg, but won 4-2 in the second leg. Before that, the Union team won 4-1 at Europa-Park-Stadion.
The personnel
Coach Nenad Bjelica will be without Rani Khedira due to injury. Robin Gosens and Danilho Doekhi are back as options after injury lay-offs, while Aïssa Laïdouni is playing with Tunisia at the Africa Cup.
The coaches’ views ahead of the game
“Freiburg are awaiting us as an attack-minded opponent with many variations in their game,” said Union head coach, Nenad Bjelica, during his press conference on Thursday afternoon. “After Bielefeld, we had a full week of training to prepare well for this challenge. We believe in our qualities, are going into this away game with full conviction and want to play at our top level in order to return to Köpenick with something worthwhile.”
“Now we’re coming up against Union, who have won two of their last three games. It’s going to be a really tough game. Let’s see how they play,” said Christian Streich, coach of SC Freiburg. “Last year we won here against Union, played a great home game. The record is not so relevant. The decisive factor is how we perform on Saturday. That we radiate freshness. That we try to exude dominance and play a good game,” Streich continued.
Service information
The players can look forward to the support of around 1,700 Union fans travelling with them for the first competitive match of the year. Information on attending the stadium can be found here (German).
The match will be broadcast live by Sky. There will also be an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and rbb24. As usual, Union will also provide information about the match via the club’s own live ticker as well as in English and Spanish on the platform formerly known as Twitter.