Freiburg are currently sat in second place in Group A on six points. West Ham are top of the table, on the same number of points but ahead of SC thanks to the fact that they won in Freiburg on matchday 2. An SC victory over the Serbian side this Thursday would ensure that Streich’s team will be guaranteed of a top three finish, and therefore a place in a European competition after the winter break.

“A win against Backa Topola could put us in a great position,” stressed Christian Streich at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday. For the SC coach, the table is not the only important thing going into Thursday’s match. “We’re at home, where we haven’t won our last two games.” Chiccho Höfler, who attended the press conference alongside Streich, added: “The fans have been filling the stadium for years now and we want to give them something back.” The crowd at the Europa-Park Stadion on Thursday evening is expected to be around 31,500, with a few tickets still available. 80 away fans will make the journey from Serbia.

Hoping to keep a clean sheet

SC have conceded the first goal in each of their last seven competitive games. Even though three of those matches ended in a victory, and Freiburg managed to come back to secure a point last time out against Borussia Mönchengladbach, everyone is in agreement that things need to change. “We definitely need to defend better and start keeping clean sheets,” said Höfler. “We need to be more professional and communicate better with one another. Our defending wasn’t good enough for the goal we conceded in Backa Topola.”

Yannik Keitel was back in the squad on Saturday and is therefore another option for the coach, though this game will come too soon for Roland Sallai and Maximilian Philipp. Streich is hoping that “they will be available again after the international break.”

The Serbian opponents have only won one of their last 10 competitive games, away to FK Čukarički last weekend. Despite this poor run, Zarko Lazetic’s team are still third in their domestic league and have given all three opponents in their UEFA Europa League group a tough game so far too.

Photo: Predrag Milosavljevic