No one associated with SCF will forget the game against Augsburg in the first half of the season in a hurry, a game in which Sport-Club treated their fans to a thrilling 3-0 victory. The result however was only a minor detail on that particular day. The game will last long in the memory as it was the final Bundesliga game to be played at the Dreisamstadion. “The fans were particularly loud that day and that spurred us on. We put in a very strong performance” recalls Nico Schlotterbeck.

Just under six months later, SCF are now settled into their new home and will travel to the WWK Arena to face Augsburg this Saturday. FC Augsburg will however have to do without their head coach Markus Weinzierl, who will miss the game following a positive COVID test. “I don’t like it when the opposition coach is missing” admitted SC Boss Christian Streich. His counterpart Steffen Baumgart was also missing from Freiburg’s last away game in Cologne. Weinzierl will be replaced by his assistants on Saturday, one of whom is Reiner Maurer. “We need the three points” asserted Maurer in the build up to the game and hopes for a similar performance from his team to the one against Union Berlin, when Augsburg ran away 2-0 winners. “We need to repeat, if not better the commitment which we showed in the game against Union” added Maurer.

Maurer is of course also aware that getting a result away at Freiburg will not be an easy task, despite the fact that Sport-Club have not yet got the better of Augsburg away from home in the league. “Freiburg are in sixth place in the league table and are one of only four teams to have a positive goal difference away from home in the league. I therefore expect an open and competitive match between two good teams. Streich also expressed his desire to win the game: “We have not yet won in Augsburg during my spell in charge. Our target is to put in a good performance and to try and come away with the three points.”

Remaining motivated in the buildup

FC Augsburg are currently sat in 16th place and Streich suggested a possible reason for their league position. “Augsburg have put in some good performances. They beat Union and got the better of Bayern earlier in the season. They are robust and play some good football. They haven’t however always played their best football on the day.” For Saturday’s clash, Streich expects “a fight.” “We want to take the fight to Augsburg, but at the end of the day, we have to focus on ourselves and on our game. If we remain disciplined and move the ball quickly, it won’t be easy for Augsburg against us.”

After the game against Mainz, Streich admitted that the team needed to go back to basics and that has been the focus on the training ground this week. “We have tried to work on our structure, our creativity and organization with and without the ball, and closing down spaces. We weren’t always successful in these areas against Mainz.” The coach has praised his team for their positive response to the game last Saturday: "They have remained focused and have engaged well with the training sessions this week. It is important that we are aware that there is a little bit missing at the moment. We must be more confident on the ball and must not panic when things don’t go our way.” The team is ready to take their positive spirit to Bavaria. “We are motivated and looking forward to playing in front of 15,000 spectators. We want to prove that we are a better team than what we showed last time out.”

Looking at the squad for the game against Augsburg, Streich stated: “We deliberate and pick our team on a week-by-week basis. Even now before the Augsburg game, it is possible that we will make some changes in certain areas.” The coaching team can also reconsider Kevin Schlotterbeck, who is now back in the squad after a positive COVID test. On the other hand, Yannik Keitel will be forced to miss out due to a broken toe. "We are hoping Yanik will make a speedy recovery so he can get back to the level he was at at the beginning of the season," said Streich.  

Photo: Achim Keller