Following an unbeaten opening ten games of the season, it was almost an eleventh game without defeat as SCF faced record champions FC Bayern München. Unfortunately however, the home side at the Allianz Arena took all three points with a 2-1 win. “We weren’t bad at all, but Bayern were so good and extremely focused. We were satisfied with the game, but not the result,” head coach Christian Streich said, looking back on the game at the start of November. Two weeks and an international break later, the game against Bayern is long behind us and the team’s eye has turned solely to the upcoming task.

There are six games remaining for SCF’s first team before the winter break, with the start of this period coming on Sunday against Eintracht Frankfurt. With 22 points from 11 games and sitting third in the table, the team and coaching staff can look back on an impressive opening portion of the season. “There’s a relaxed mood in camp because of where we are in the league,” explained Streich, focusing on his side’s upcoming opponents: “We know what we’re coming up against. Frankfurt won’t shy away from doing the dirty work. We’ve got the task of playing our way through, but we need to be careful not to be caught on the counter.”

The Eagles have not had a perfect start to the 2021/22 season so far. Despite being almost certain to qualify for the next round of the Europa League after their next match, they currently sit 14th in the Bundesliga. Recently, SGE have been winning a lot of points with late goals. “From that, you can see that they have a good amount of quality and the right mentality,” said Streich, who went on to say he is expecting a “difficult but exciting task” against Frankfurt.

Kevin Schade and Nico Schlotterbeck returned from representing their countries in the international break with injuries and are doubtful to play as a result. Jonathan Schmid and Nils Petersen will not be available.

Photo: Achim Keller