The Estadio Municipal in La Línea de la Concepción is one big construction site at the moment. The main stand dates back to the 1960s and is currently surrounded by a ring of rubble.

However, a look behind the goals will show you that they are in the midst of building something spectacular here. Local third-division side Real Balompédica Linense are building themselves a new home. Behind it runs a street with the Rock of Gibraltar looming above it — truly an imposing site for anyone visiting the stadium.

It was in front of this vista that SC Freiburg and FC Basel met for their first friendly of the year. Both teams had met in the plane to Spain on Wednesday and had exchanged pleasantries then.

Sildillia sets up early opener

On the pitch, however, it was business as usual. The first chance for SC came in the sixth minute, as the Basel defence managed to clear an attack spearheaded by Maximilian Eggestein and Christian Günter in the nick of time. Five minutes later, SC benefitted from an own goal from Taulant Xhaka, as he headed Kiliann Sildillia’s cross into his own net (11’).

Both coaches had agreed to play four 30-minute quarters before kick-off. The second quarter also featured plenty of chances for Freiburg. Roland Sallai was unable to poke a cross past FCB keeper Marwin Hitz (37’), but seconds later Kofi Kyereh was able to beat the goalkeeper from close range — the referee then disallowed the goal due to an offside call.

Three minutes later, FCB were able to clear a header from Höfler off the line, but were unable to prevent SC from going 2-0 up shortly after. Günter’s cross was headed in from close range by Michael Gregoritsch (55’).

Wholesale changes after 60 minutes

In addition to several changes amongst the players, the second half also saw the ball being swapped out for a new one. While the first two quarters had been played using the Bundesliga ball, the final two were completed using the Super League ball. FCB clearly preferred this one, scoring twice with both their first two shots. Darian Males cut the deficit from a tight angle (72’) before Sildillia was unfortunate to redirect a shot into his own goal (76’).

SC struggled to find their shape during this phase, and it was clear to see that several players were not playing in their designated positions. Head coach Christian Streich could be heard bemoaning several “Terrible passes” on the sidelines.

The team managed to pull themselves together in the closing stages, with Lucas Höler finishing off a pass from Ritsu Doan to secure a 3-2 victory for SC (104’).   

Freiburg will resume training in Sotogrande in the coming days, where they will also play their final friendly of the winter break next Friday against Hamburger SV (15:00 CET).

SC Freiburg: Flekken (60’ Uphoff) – Sildillia (75’ Siquet), Ginter (60’ Röhl, 90’ Ezekwem), Gulde (60’ Engelhardt), Günter (60’ Schmidt) – Sallai (75’ Doan), Eggestein (60’ Jeong), Höfler (75’ Wagner), Grifo (60’ Weißhaupt) – Kyereh (60’ Höler), Gregoritsch (60’ Petersen).

Photo: Achim Keller