Freiburg (dpa / lsw) – Coach Christian Streich knows from his own experience what it’s like to be in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup with SC Freiburg. In the 2012/13 season he reached this milestone with the Sport-Club, but then left VfB Stuttgart. In recent years, on the other hand, it was usually over in the second round. Streich therefore has hope before the quarter-finals on Wednesday at VfL Bochum (8.45 p.m. / Sky, ARD) that the really big coup might even be possible this season.
After all, only four Bundesliga clubs are still in the quarter-finals – and with the exception of RB Leipzig, all top clubs have already been eliminated. But that could also be a burden, said Streich. “But I don’t concern myself with that.” The absence of FC Bayern or Borussia Dortmund is much more a welcome change. “You could also say, fortunately, another club will win the cup,” said the coach the day before the duel in Bochum.
All eight teams still represented would see this opportunity. “And it wouldn’t be the first time that a second division team has reached the final,” emphasized the SC coach. “That’s what makes this competition.” Before the game in Bochum, however, he hardly thought about the season in which he was in the semifinals with the pros. But especially over the years when he won the DFB Junior Cup with the Freiburg U19s.
He has won the competition with the SC juniors three times. Today’s captain Christian Günter was one of his winning teams. In the 29-year-old, the subsequent award ceremony in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium before the final of the professionals “awakened the hunger to be in such a final at some point,” as he told SWR.
First, however, is the quarter-finals in Bochum, and Freiburg travel there with a thirst for revenge. They lost the Bundesliga game at VfL at the end of November very unluckily 1:2. “Every face was bewildered. We felt like we were in the wrong movie,” Ermedin Demirovic recalls on the bus ride home after many missed chances. “We have to do better in the cup,” demands the striker. After all, everyone dreams of the final – especially when “so many top-class players have already been kicked out”.
However, Bochum have seldom lost at home this season and have annoyed many top teams – most recently the German record champions from Munich in mid-February. “The crowd is extremely loud, it’s a great atmosphere for the home team. But we’ve already had our experience and know what to expect,” said Lucas Höler.
The goalscorer also knows that it would be the shortest route to international competition for the sports club. In the Bundesliga, Freiburg are on course for the European Cup, but still have ten matchdays ahead of them. The coach also knows that Streich describes his team as “maximally motivated” and that “something extraordinary” is possible with the team – that applies to success in the league and in the cup.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220301-99-339562/3
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