Kick-off at the BayArena will be at 18:00 CET on Sunday, with the game taking place behind closed doors due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

SC coach Christian Streich watched Leverkusen’s Europa League clash against BSC Young Boys on Thursday evening, as Peter Bosz’s team were knocked out of the tournament by the Swiss side after losing 2-0 on the night and 6-3 on aggregate.

“There are always periods in the season where teams struggle to win. Leverkusen are going through that at the moment and when that happens, it’s the little things that make all the difference. When these aren’t going your way and you have a bit of bad luck on top of that, it makes for a tough run of form,” explained Streich at Friday’s pre-match press conference.

Bayer Leverkusen currently sit in fifth place in the Bundesliga, having picked up a total of 37 points after 22 games. This falls short of their own expectations following a 2-2 draw against Mainz 05 and a late 1-1 draw away at FC Augsburg. They will hoping to make up for these missed points on Sunday.

“I have a lot of respect for them,” said Christian Streich as he continued on to take a self-critical look at his own team’s recent performances. “We weren’t secure enough in possession in the 0-0 draw against Werder Bremen. Against Union Berlin, we kept our shape well but some of the boys had an off day individually. Then they scored and we ended up losing it 1-0.”

With 31 points, SC Freiburg currently sit in a respectable ninth place, but still feel that the gap to the drop zone can be widened in the remaining games of the season. For this reason, it is all the more important to continue to pick up points as quickly as possible. “Naturally, we want to play with confidence and make sure we use the ball well, especially in the final third,” continued Streich. In order to do that, the team will have to see “how much quality, determination, commitment and hunger we can bring onto the pitch with us.”

SC’s head coach will be without Changhoon Kwon and Mark Flekken who are both in recovery, but otherwise can count on the rest of the squad for Sunday’s game. Among these is Guus Til, who played in the Regionalliga on Tuesday and capped off an impressive performance with a brace in the 4-1 over TSV Schott Mainz.

Photo: Achim Keller