SC Freiburg can reach a European quarter-final for the first time at West Ham United. The people of Breisgau want to subordinate everything to this goal.
SC Freiburg doesn’t want to jeopardize its historic chance in the Europa League by thinking too much about big tasks in the Bundesliga. On Thursday evening (April 14th, 2023, 6:45 p.m. live in the audio stream on SWR Sport) the Breisgauer will play against the English Premier League club West Ham United for their first place in an international quarter-final – just three days later the unbeaten Bundesliga leaders Bayer come Leverkusen to Freiburg. “Leverkusen doesn’t play a role until a minute after the game,” coach Christian Streich made it clear on Wednesday evening, “everything is aimed at West Ham, everything is pure.”
SC Freiburg can “achieve great things”
Freiburg takes a 1-0 win from the first leg of the round of 16 to England, but Streich warns of a variable opponent: “West Ham can play different variations. We saw that in the first leg, we have to be prepared for two or three variations.” His team needs “courage”; it’s “about us getting control of the pace of the game.” The players at least have the club’s history in the back of their minds. “We know that we can achieve something big,” said Maximilian Eggestein: “but we don’t have to talk about it so much beforehand, we just have to do the work.”
Streich can call on central defender Philipp Lienhart again against West Ham after an almost two-month injury break. The Austrian national player will initially be sitting on the bench, explained Streich. Midfielder Noah Weißhaupt, on the other hand, is missing, with Streich citing the 22-year-old’s workload management as the reason.
SC Freiburg is hoping for Michael Gregoritsch
On the offensive, Freiburg’s hopes rest again on striker Michael Gregoritsch. Against Bochum, Gregoritsch provided “really some breathing room” with an assist and a goal, said Streich. “With the feeling of success, I think that the regeneration will go faster. And then we are really happy that we still have a chance in London.” Despite the tight schedule in the English weeks, he only changed his starting eleven in one position in Bochum compared to the first leg against West Ham – and he was right. Gregoritsch replaced Lucas Höler in attack and proved that he will be more dangerous again towards the end of the season.
Gregoritsch as the man for the important goals
“He really helps the team with his demeanor,” said Streich the evening before the game in London. This is not just because of his goal threat. Gregoritsch has “great qualities in many areas”. In the first few months of the current round, the Austrian international was unlucky for a long time, scoring for the first time in the Europa League at the end of November in a 5-0 win against Olympiakos Piraeus, and then scoring three times. In the Bundesliga in December he scored one goal in three games in a row and helped the sports club to three wins.
After the turn of the year, the 29-year-old was only able to celebrate his own goal again at the end of February; it was the late goal to make the final score 3-3 in the home game against Eintracht Frankfurt. And with his goal to make it 3-2 in extra time of the second leg of the Europa League second round against RC Lens, he made Freiburg’s second round of 16 appearance perfect in a row. Gregoritsch was the man for the important goals recently and is now hoping for a continuation in London.
Broadcast on Thursday, March 14, 2024, 6:00 a.m., SWR Aktuell in the morning, SWR Aktuell