After the successful dress rehearsal against FC St. Pauli last Thursday, the Europa-Park Stadion will see its first competitive action on Saturday. RB Leipzig, runners-up in the league last season, are the opponents this weekend.

“We are going into this fixture with a lot of excitement and want to show that this is still a home match for us,” explained Christian Streich in his press conference ahead of the occasion. 20,000 spectators will be at the game, 5,000 more than there were at the St. Pauli friendly. “It’s something really different. The players are very motivated and we hope that the fans get behind us and urge on the players,” said Streich.

Streich thinks it is unlikely that the team will need time to settle into their new surroundings at the Europa-Park Stadion: “We want to be at it immediately and play in top-class Bundesliga games. We want to enjoy it - that is the aim. It was wonderful to play at the Dreisamstadion but we want to take everything with us to the Europa-Park Stadion.”

Leipzig naturally want to ruin Freiburg’s first outing at their new home. With ten points from their first seven games, they might have hoped for a better start to the season. “They are a top team with a lot of quality, they are very strong individually and play with a high tempo,” Streich is very aware of how dangerous the opposition is.

SCF do not have to hide from RB Leipzig, however. The team is still unbeaten and sits fourth in the table. According to Streich, one thing that has contributed to their successful start is “incredibly hard work without the ball,” which is something they will need to continue against RBL.

The players away on international duty over the past week and a half have all arrived safely back at the Dreisam. Jonathan Schmid, who is still not training fully after recovering from Corona, won’t be an option for Saturday.