On Friday evening, 1. FC Union Berlin’s men’s team will host SC Freiburg to begin the Bundesliga’s 10th matchday. Kick off at the An der Alten Försterei stadium is at 20:30.
The lie of the land
A glance at SC Freiburg’s league position over the past few matchdays shows that the club are currently on something of a rollercoaster ride. After starting the season in first place, they have since dropped to 10th, 7th and 3rd, only to climb back up the table to 7th, 4th, 3rd, 5th and 6th after matchday 5. With 16 points, Freiburg have one more point than Union after their point last Sunday at home against 1. FSV Mainz 05. It was their first draw of 2024/25 having had seven wins and three defeats in the first ten league and cup games so far this season.
Head coach Bo Svensson’s team have also suffered three defeats so far, two of which, however, have come in the last two games. After being knocked out of the DFB Pokal by DSC Arminia Bielefeld, they lost 3-0 to record champions FC Bayern München on Saturday. Thanks to a strong start to the season, Union are sat in 7th place, having conceded eight goals, the third-best defence in the entire league.
The opponents
After more than twelve years and a total of 489 matches, the Christian Streich era at Freiburg came to an end this summer. He was replaced by former Freiburg player and captain Julian Schuster, who already wore the Black Forest club’s colours from 2008 to 2018. The new man in charge on the touchline was also part of the team that secured Freiburg’s last promotion to the peak of German football in 2015/16.
Since then, SC Freiburg have been represented in the Bundesliga without interruption and are currently playing their ninth consecutive top flight season. The fact that the club from the Breisgau region have not been represented in Europe more often during this time is also partly due to Friday’s hosts. In the last game of last season, Janik Haberer’s last-minute goal meant that his team avoided relegation but denied Freiburg qualification for the UEFA Conference League. The year before, the southern Germans were pipped at the death by Union in the race for the last UEFA Champions League place.
The club used the most recent transfer phase to continue their long-standing focus on young talent, signing two key players in Eren Dinkci and Patrick Osterhage. The latter is already a key player in the Europapark stadium, and is also Freiburg’s third most-used outfield player.
The head to head
Friday’s clash will be the 18th competitive meeting between the two sides. Union have emerged victorious from the seven encounters, with four ending in a draw and a further five going to the account of the sports club.
Freiburg’s only victory at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei dates back to the 2004/05 season, when they won 4-0 win in the first round of the DFB Pokal. On the other hand, Union will want to continue their series of six wins and a draw on Friday nights.
The reunion
Friday will see two faces, very well known to the opponents. Janik Haberer played a total of 171 games for SC between 2016 and 2022, while Alexander Schwolow kept 166 clean sheets for Freiburg between 2012 and 2020.
Off the pitch, there will be a reunion with Daniel Wolf. The current athletic trainer of SC Freiburg worked with the Union’s professional squad from 2012 to 2016 as a rehab and athletic trainer.
The personnel
The injured Yannic Stein is the only player unavailable for Bo Svensson’s squad.
The coaches’ views ahead of the game
“Freiburg have been a solid team for years,” said Union’s head coach, Bo Svensson, during his press conference on Thursday afternoon. “They have a core of players who fully identify with the club and you can see that: they are a well-rehearsed team and give you a task in every phase of the game. It has always been close against Freiburg, and that’s what I expect tomorrow.”
“Union are very tight-knit, they defend passionately,” was Svensson’s opposite number, Julian Schuster’s assessment of his own side’s task on Friday evening. “They didn’t have an easy season last year. Now they’re back to how they were before. A lot of commitment, a lot of willpower. The results show that. They don’t concede many goals.”
Service information
As usual, the Stadion An der Alten Försterei will open two hours before kick-off, with the game sold out in both the home and away sectors. All visitors are advised to arrive early due to significant restrictions on public transport and on the roads around the stadium. Further information can be found here (German).
The game will be broadcast live on DAZN. In addition, there is an audio stream on rbb24 Inforadio and on rbb24. As usual, Union will also provide information about the game on the club’s own live ticker, as well as in English and Spanish on Twitter.
