Most Freiburg fans will remember the last meeting with Hamburger SV well. SC head coach Julian Schuster certainly hasn’t forgotten it, having watched that 3-1 win at the Volksparkstadion in the 2021/22 cup semi-finals from within the away end alongside Karim Guédé. “It was definitely a special experience and an amazing evening for the team together with the fans,” reminisces Schuster. “I applied for tickets just like everybody else and sat in my allocated seat.”

This time he will be in the dugout for the sell-out second-round tie, which sees the fifth-placed sides in the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga go head-to-head. “It doesn’t matter who we’re up against; whether we’re away to the side sitting second in the Bundesliga or playing at home against a second-division side, we need to give 100 percent and push ourselves to our limits,” said Schuster, who considers HSV’s squad of “top-flight calibre”.

Baumgart’s poor record against SC

HSV head coach Steffen Baumgart has faced Freiburg seven times during his coach career (twice with SC Paderborn, five times with 1. FC Köln) and has won just twice, suffering four defeats. 

Florian Müller will be hoping to stop the 52-year-old from improving his record against SC, after the coaching team confirmed in advance that the German goalkeeper will be between the sticks on Wednesday night. “Flo and Jannik both support Noah with their mindset and attitude. All three of them push each other. We wanted to give Flo the opportunity because he has deserved it with the way he has conducted himself, those first couple of matchdays and his consistent performances in training,” explained Schuster, who intends to make a fresh decision in that regard for any potential future cup rounds.

Schuster kept awake by difficult choices

SC were without Jordy Makengo and Noah Weißhaupt due to the muscular problems for the recent league game in Leipzig. “Noah has been back training since Sunday, but Jordy has been involved less so is a doubt,” said Schuster.  The potential return of Weißhaupt gives the coaching team even more options, which is causing something of a headache for the boss: “On the one hand, it’s nice to have this quality, but then you also have the issue where you’re lying in bed trying to get to sleep and you’re going over those decisions.”

Ritsu Doan was Freiburg’s only man on the scoresheet in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to RBL, giving the 26-year-old four goals and one assist after eight league games. “He had a great pre-season and is clearly in excellent shape,” commented Schuster, adding: “We had discussed him becoming more of a goal threat and looking for the right moments to pounce. He is very open to ideas and is always looking at other players that play in his position.”

If the Japan international can keep up that form on Wednesday, it could be enough to provide the SC fans and Julian Schuster with reason to celebrate once again after a cup clash with HSV.

Photo: Achim Keller