On the 11th matchday of the Bundesliga 2021/22, SC Freiburg has to go to Bayern Munich. The Breisgauer have never won there. That could change on Saturday (kick-off at 3.30 p.m.). Seldom have the omens for an away win for the Breisgauers been so good.
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Sport-Club Freiburg has been a guest at FC Bayern München 21 times in the Bundesliga. There were 18 defeats and three draws. The omens have never been so good that it can finally succeed with the first away win for the Breisgauers. Head coach Christian Streich’s team comes third in the table to the Isar. And is the only team still unbeaten in the Bundesliga. If you only look at the last five game days, Freiburg is even ahead of Bayern (13 points, four wins, one draw).
Freiburg arrives with the best defense in the league. The Breisgauer conceded just seven goals. For comparison: last season there were already 22 at the same time! Especially away from home, the SCF defense has been difficult to crack so far. In five guest appearances, the opponents met only three times, three times even zero, which is the top of the league.
Freiburg relies on tight spaces
And that despite the fact that the sports club played the second fewest duels in the league and even won the fewest defensive duels (with opposing ball possession). Freiburg’s recipe for success: The team relies on tight spaces on the defensive, on good order. When the opponent has possession of the ball, the Streich-Elf has most of the players behind the ball (8.2), who are on average only 19.7 meters apart (21.2 meters when they are in possession of the ball).
And with goalkeeper Mark Flekken you have an almost insurmountable man between the posts. With 83 percent saved shots, he is the best keeper in the league this season. On the opposing court he is even a little bit better with 86 percent held balls. It will be difficult for Bayern to score against Freiburg. Because even if they are six hits better than their “Expected Goals” value and they have the best hit rate with five shots per goal, it won’t be a sure-fire success against the Breisgauer: Only every 22nd opposing shot on goal was possible for Flekken and Co. .
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One of the youngest and one of the oldest coaches will meet on Saturday: Julian Nagelsmann and Christian Streich – JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images
Great strength in standards
On the offensive, the success of the SCF lives from the strength of the standards that the Munich team has been warned about and that the FCB should avoid as much as possible. In the last four seasons, the team has been one of the four best teams in the league in this area. Only RB Leipzig (ten times) and FC Bayern (nine times) scored more often after dormant balls than the sports club, which scored almost half of its 17 goals this season from corners (four, league top), free kicks or penalties (two each).
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Freiburg is especially strong when it comes to headers, the best team in the league, and has already scored five times like this (plus a header own goal). This is a clear advantage especially with the standards and is responsible for the success of eight hits after resting balls. Incidentally, these are spread over six games and were definitely decisive as the SCF left the field as the winner. Without standard goals, it would have “only” been enough for the prank team to draw.
With Lucas Höler, Freiburg also has a small Bayern scare in its ranks. In his Bundesliga career, the center forward has not scored more goals against a club than against FC Bayern (three in seven games, two of which in Munich). And this season too, Höler is in a good mood, has already scored three times and thus set a new personal record after ten match days. And this success is no coincidence either: Höler has played the second most duels in the league (257) and has earned the hits.
SC Freiburg is dangerous when it comes to standards – Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Bavaria has been warned
Bayern should be warned about the next opponent. With prank, Freiburg has the longest-serving head coach on the bench, who knows the Munich team well and certainly already has a few things in mind about how he and his team can finally get their first victory at FCB. On the 22nd attempt …
