Matthias Ginter is one of the central figures at SC Freiburg. The development of the 29-year-old since last summer is remarkable - and at least surprises the coach a little.
Freiburg (dpa/lsw) - When SC Freiburg celebrated the biggest win in its Bundesliga history last season with a 6-0 win at Borussia Mönchengladbach, Matthias Ginter was still on the other side. On Saturday (3.30 p.m. / Sky) the national player will return to Borussia Park with his home club - and then wants to work on the next success of Baden if possible.
"It was good that we won there, but I never went to Gladbach with a bad feeling," said SC coach Christian Streich on Thursday. "We've played a lot of good games there." Before the said game in December 2021, Freiburg had only won once in Gladbach - and that was in April 1995.
At the 0:6 Ginter went under. Overall, the defender didn't have a good last season for Borussia. In the meantime, he was therefore no longer called up to the German national team. At home in Freiburg and with his former coach, the 29-year-old has been in top form since the summer. "I didn't expect him to get so good again so quickly, but it didn't surprise me either," explained Streich. "He's back in a very good level of performance where he was for many years."
That also had something to do with the "input from the coach, his observations and expectations", said Ginter himself during the winter break. "I took that to heart." It was his "best half-year" after he "didn't play so well" in Gladbach in the previous months. At Sport-Club, Ginter is a right central defender, has played all Bundesliga games so far this season and scored three goals. "He brought stability to the team," Streich praised the experienced defender.
And Ginter helped Freiburg travel to Mönchengladbach with the best record in their Bundesliga history. They have never had twelve wins and five draws to their credit after 22 match days.
The Gladbachers, on the other hand, are a mystery this season. They are only in the middle of the table. The protégés of coach Daniel Farke have mainly won against top clubs such as FC Bayern Munich (3: 2), Borussia Dortmund (4: 2) and RB Leipzig (3: 0) - which the Freiburg team has not managed to do so far. "It shows that they have great potential," said Streich, "if they get to the top edge, they can beat anyone." The SC should be warned. After all, he's one of the top teams himself this season.
