Coach Streich is absent from SC Freiburg's Europa League game against Nantes because of a corona infection. The eleven, who have been unbeaten for eight compulsory games, do not want to be deterred by this.
Freiburg (dpa / lsw) - For months, coach Christian Streich only saw the journalists in the press conferences before SC Freiburg games on the computer. Thanks to the corona pandemic. Before the Europa League home game against FC Nantes on Thursday (9:00 p.m., RTL ), he himself was connected from the kitchen at home after initially having to overcome minor technical problems.
A corona disease ensures that the 57-year-old will not heat up his team on the sidelines for the second time since he has been head coach of the Bundesliga soccer team. He tested positive on Wednesday morning, has a headache and sore throat and doesn't feel "very strong," he explained.
Since the two assistant coaches Lars Voßler and Florian Bruns are also suffering from Corona, he has not yet been able to say who will win him against the French table 16. from Nantes is represented. "But everything has been discussed, the tactical orientation is clear, the team is stable, so there are no problems," Streich said confidently. Assistant coach Patrick Baier and liaison coach and ex-captain Julian Schuster would be on the bench if Voßler, who tested positive a few days ago and already played in the league home game on Saturday against FSV Mainz 05 (2-1 ) was missing.
"Of course we will miss the coach with the way he pushes us on the sidelines and in the dressing room," said SC midfielder Nicolas Höfler. "But we want to show as a team that we have the quality to win games like this without him thanks to our conviction on the pitch." The team is aware of the good starting position after two wins in the Europa League at the start, which puts them at the top of Group G. "We're hot and we want to win the third game too."
Since there has only been a match against Mainz after the international break, Höfler does not see any wear and tear at Sport-Club, which has been unbeaten in eight competitive games and is second in the Bundesliga. "We can go full throttle and will put our intense game on the pitch, which makes us who we are."
Streich will watch it on TV at home, but he still has to figure out how to receive it there, he admitted. But he didn't want to "overdo it by trying to be there and help". After all, you see a lot less on TV than in the stadium, explained the SC coach.
If he feels fit enough on Thursday, he wants to speak to the team before the game - connected virtually. "It's definitely good if the coach addresses a few words to us," said Höfler. "But we know we have to perform and we're hot too."
When Streich was absent for the only time so far at the start of the season in August 2018 due to a herniated disc, the Sport-Club lost the two Bundesliga games without him. That should now be different against FC Nantes.
