180 minutes of football is all that’s left of SCF’s calendar year. The first of the two remaining fixtures will take place on Wednesday at Union Berlin, who, like Freiburg, suffered a narrow defeat on the weekend. “We created enough clear chances against Hoffenheim but didn’t score the goals. We’ve recently been scoring one goal too few in the decisive moments, but conceding two. Even though we haven’t been playing badly, we have to do some things – both in attack and defence – a little but better,” said Christian Streich ahead of the game.

The midweek game comes as a blessing for Freiburg, who as a result of the quick turnaround in fixtures have little time to dwell on the tough-to-take late goal that condemned them to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday. Against a Union side who are “tough to play against”, head coach Streich says Freiburg want to “show that not only can we play good football, but also pick up points doing so” once again.

The two sides have met five times in recent history, with each occasion providing a close, tactical battle. Christian Streich is expecting nothing different tomorrow. “Union have been incredibly successful in recent years. They are a very physical side and that is reflected in their play. They’re ready to defend everything and then transition immediately.”

There’s also not much to split SCF and Union when looking at the league table, either. The standings have become even tighter across most of the division in recent weeks. “Everything is extremely close and there’s not much between a lot of teams. It’s very exciting,” said Streich, pleased about the league constellation.

Nico Schlotterbeck is a doubt for Wednesday after being forced off through injury on Saturday, while Jonathan Schmid has been ruled out and will not be involved.