SC Freiburg has been without a win in four league games. That should change against Borussia Mönchengladbach, but the opponent arrives with a striker who is on a roll.
When Julian Schuster talks about his former teammate Tim Kleindienst, a smile crosses the SC Freiburg coach’s face. The upcoming opponent “has someone in the front that we were allowed to train,” explained Schuster. The 29-year-old new national player, who came to the Bundesliga club as a 19-year-old in 2015 but was unable to assert himself there, is someone who is currently on a real run.
“It’s nice to see the development he has made. I’m really happy for him personally, it was a very pleasant time,” said Schuster. At that time, he and the national striker shared a passion: “We were both very experienced in American football at the time and occasionally watched games or the Super Bowl.”
Before the clash on Saturday (3:30 p.m. in the live ticker and audio stream on sportschau.de) in the Europa Park stadium, Kleindienst has already scored seven goals this season and also scored for the national team. The SC strikers, on the other hand, are going in the other direction: the Breisgauers have been without a win in the league for four games and have not hit the goal three times recently.
First difficult phase for Schuster at SC Freiburg
For Schuster, this could turn into the first difficult phase in his debut year as head coach. The transition after cult coach Christian Streich said goodbye to the former Freiburg midfielder in the summer was initially successful and surprisingly smooth. After the seventh matchday, Freiburg was in third place in the table.
But recently there was a lull in the 0:4 defeat at Borussia Dortmund reached its lowest point last Saturday. In addition to the suspended midfielder Patrick Osterhage, center forward Junior Adamu will also be missing against Mönchengladbach. He was banned for three games after a red card in Dortmund. The alternative Lucas Höler was in the starting line-up against BVB for the first time this season, but was unable to convince.
Gregoritsch in the Freiburg starting eleven for the first time?
Since Michael Gregoritsch hasn’t really gotten up to speed yet after tearing a muscle fiber in the summer, the wing players Ritsu Doan (four goals) and Vincenzo Grifo (3) are Freiburg’s best goalscorers so far. But recently they too were no longer aiming precisely enough. So the question remains whether Gregoritsch von Schuster will get a new chance and play under him for the first time. After all, the 30-year-old recently scored twice for Austria in the Nations League. “He can also be a good option for the weekend,” said Schuster, pointing out that offensive processes were an important topic in training.
With a win against Gladbach, who have been unbeaten in five games, Freiburg, seventh in the table and whose squad probably includes midfielder Merlin Röhl for the first time after a long injury break, could overtake the team from the Lower Rhine in the table and end the sporting slump again. However, the last four home games against Borussia always ended in a draw. And then there is the dangerous petty service in the enemy’s attack. “We will do everything we can to stop his run this weekend,” said Schuster.
Broadcast on Thursday, November 28th, 2024, 6:40 p.m., SWR1 Baden-Württemberg
