Christian Streich does not think long about his answer. The question was how he would look at the table after beating Leverkusen. “I’m not interested in the table, it’s a nice snapshot,” replies the SC Freiburg head coach dryly.
After the 3-2 away win over Leverkusen on Saturday, the Breisgauers are at the top of the table with twelve points. Because the competition from Munich and Berlin drew in a direct duel, it will stay that way until the next matchday. Nevertheless, Streich is as usual modest and warns of the triple burden of Bundesliga, Cup and Europa League in the coming months.
“We’re playing the European Cup on Thursday, which is exceptional for us as a club. In a year when you play in Europe, it’s about playing well in Europe and keeping SC Freiburg in the Bundesliga. That’s our big goal,” says Streich. “If we can do that, it would be a nice and a good year. We’ve got twelve points now, that interests me after five games, that’s outstanding.”
The sports club struggled against Leverkusen for a long time and deservedly fell behind in the first half. Due to a system change in the second half and the substitution of newcomer Ritsu Doan for the injured Manuel Gulde, the Freiburg found the game better thanks to their much more offensive orientation. Matthias Ginter promptly equalized three minutes after the restart.
Ginter’s header was the fifth set goal this season. This is nothing new for Freiburg, who are known for their dead-ball strength. “It was rehearsed and it worked. It helps us enormously that we have been practicing this for years and we also have a continuity of players who have been practicing it together for years,” says Streich.
By that he means players like captain Christian Günter, Vinzenzo Grifo or Nicolas Höfler, who regularly provide assists in this way or sometimes score themselves. Added to this is Freiburg’s effectiveness this season, which was also the key to success in Leverkusen with three goals from three chances.
Before this season, Freiburg didn’t have to compensate for the departure of important regular players, as is so often the case. At the same time, the accesses work, which is also a strength of the Freiburg team, who always manage to integrate new players quickly. It is no coincidence that Ginter, Michael Gregoritsch and Doan scored three new signings in Leverkusen.
Meanwhile, Freiburg also has a different standing on the transfer market, is considered a popular address for young players and can now afford to keep talents like Kevin Schade and turn down offers of over 20 million from England.
Ultimately, the Freiburg coach also knows how to classify the result correctly: “Overall it was a lucky win because Leverkusen had more chances. In terms of results, things are going well for us at the moment. We played well in some of the last three games, in some cases very so-so, but we won all three games.” So Freiburg deservedly took first place, because in the end it doesn’t always have to be the best football to get three points.
