Although the overall record in this feisty matchup between Freiburg and Stuttgart goes to VfB (21:15), as of late there has been little to talk about for the team coached by Bruno Labbadia since December. SCF are unbeaten in the last seven Bundesliga meetings, winning five of them.

At the press conference this Thursday, Christian Streich answered the media’s questions, but on Saturday the SC coach will not be allowed on the sideline after his second yellow against Borussia Dortmund. “Julian Schuster will be there on the touchline, Lars Voßler will take my place and I will watch the game on a screen,” explained Streich, who is banned from half an hour before until half an hour after the final whistle and is not allowed to communicate with the team during this period.

“I didn’t think about it until Wednesday because we were busy with the Sandhausen game. The boys are in no way dependent on whether I am out there,” said Streich. “You could also see that in the home game against Nantes when I had Coronavirus.”

Keitel is training with the team again

The exhausting 95 minutes in Sandhausen took their toll on several players, such that one or two could be unavailable for the match against VfB. SCF manager Streich didn’t want to give names. On a positive note, Yannik Keitel is back in team training after recovering from muscular problems. Kiliann Sildillia is out, however, serving a suspension.

According to Streich, the Freiburg coaching staff were very satisfied with the highly contested DFB-Pokal game against SV Sandhausen, in which SCF qualified for the second time in a row for the quarter finals. “We managed to bring a certain amount of emotion into our game and allowed few counterattacks. Overall, the stability was there, also in our passing. Of course, we would have liked to have made it 1-0 earlier, because we had three or four clear opportunities.”

Precarious situation against VfB

Streich thinks that the 2-0 victory should give the team additional confidence for Saturday, and that is also necessary. “The matches against VfB have been usually very, very close and we have in some way managed to come out on top. They are a team who belongs in the Bundesliga,” said Streich.

Stuttgart, who have been plagued by injuries recently and will miss, among others, Serhou Guirassy (adductor tear) this Saturday, are currently in the relegation zone with 16 points. Bruno Labbadia’s team are without a win in the last five Bundesliga games, but booked their place in the cup quarter finals with a 2-1 victory against second-division SC Paderborn.

“Bruno has changed the system. I do believe that he will stabilise the team and that VfB will get enough points to stay in the league,” predicted Streich, and he summarised some thoughts that came to mind with a view to Saturday: “Tight game, maximum effort needed, derby, full stadium, lots of emotion there.” There is nothing more to say before this special game.

Photo: Achim Keller