Bundesliga
Freiburg celebrate second place – warns Streich
Festive atmosphere in Breisgau: SC Freiburg spend the winter in second place in the table. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
SC Freiburg had a stellar year, finishing runners-up in the Bundesliga over the winter and establishing themselves as a top-class team. The reasons are varied. Mister Streich enjoys, but also warns.
Christian Streich paused for a moment. “What we have experienced is unbelievable,” said the SC Freiburg coach. Just to add a little later: “I wish it would stay that way, but it won’t.”
Prank wouldn’t be a joke if he hadn’t raised his index finger in warning amid the euphoria with which the Freiburgers greeted the break of the Bundesliga World Cup. He wanted to “enjoy” the situation now, he said after the grand final against Union Berlin (4-1). Then he wanted to “practice not putting too much pressure on yourself because you think it has to stay that way.”
jump to second place
With the leap to second place in the Bundesliga, an incredible year ends for the Breisgau. After reaching the DFB Cup final for the first time, the exciting trip to Berlin with tens of thousands of fans and qualification for the Europa League in the second half of the previous season, many wondered whether SC could keep this level.
The 23 mandatory matches of the current season so far, with only three losses, have shown that they can do it. Freiburg are wintering in both cup competitions, have established themselves as one of the best sides in the league and head into the new year as Bayern’s number one chaser.
Continuity as a formula for success
The reasons are varied. One word that occurs over and over again in the SC success story is continuity. Even “in the tough times, the relegation battles and bitter defeats, many important people remained standing,” said Streich. This was the only way to “develop things later”.
Coach, sporting director Jochen Saier, sporting director Klemens Hartenbach and financial director Oliver Leki, for example, have been working closely together for many years, but leave each other’s fields to their own devices. The chairman of the supervisory board, Heinrich Breit, had never talked to him about football, but he also didn’t want to talk to Breit about finances, Streich said. “It’s a symbol of how people work here,” the 57-year-old stressed.
On the pitch, these symbols include longtime top players like World Cup driver Christian Günter or midfielder Nicolas Höfler. They too have evolved, Streich said. “I wish we could freeze them and they would never age again,” he joked. Vincenzo Grifo, who was not happy at either Hoffenheim or Mönchengladbach but now scored (at least) nine goals in the third consecutive Bundesliga season at SC, is also one of them. Or central defender Philipp Lienhart.
Newcomers strike
In addition, Ritsu Doan and Michael Gregoritsch, who were engaged in the summer, as well as the returning Matthias Ginter, who, like Günter, is away at the World Cup with the German national team, got off to a flying start. “We complement each other very well, we are really good friends off the pitch,” said DAZN Captain Günter about the special team spirit in Freiburg.
Who, interacting with their fans, create an atmosphere that many probably would not have expected after the move from the venerable Dreisam Stadium to the new and less romantic Europa-Park Stadium. “A very, very beautiful story” is going into the winter break with this sense of accomplishment, said striker Gregoritsch after the next day’s celebrations against Union. If Streich Streich and Freiburg remain on the table, there could be more good chapters in the new year.
