Ginter: Freiburgers should “get the feeling of winning a title”

First European Cup final possible

Before the biggest international appearance in SC Freiburg’s history, coach Julian Schuster doesn’t want to be influenced by the huge euphoria in the surrounding area. “Everyone else is allowed to make this game as big as possible,” said the 41-year-old before the semi-final second leg in the Europa League against SC Braga on Thursday (9 p.m./RTL).

The beauty of football is that it brings people together. Because of the power of football, the solidarity in the city of Freiburg is “extremely great”. People are approached more often on the street and the demand for cards increases to the maximum. “These are such special circumstances anyway, so we don’t need anything special in terms of our approach, but we can trust our usual processes,” emphasized Schuster.

With a home win, the Bundesliga club can reach a European Cup final for the first time. However, the Breisgauers have to make up for a 2-1 defeat in the first leg a week ago in Portugal. At 191 million euros, the Breisgauers have a higher squad value than Braga (154.9 million). If successful, the opponents in the final on May 20th in Istanbul would be Nottingham Forest or Aston Villa.

No Nagelsmann visit in Freiburg’s Europa League semi-finals

It’s also important not to think too much, said defense chief Matthias Ginter. “Just get going. I just hope, especially for the people, that they get the feeling of winning a title,” said the 51-time German national player, who became world champion in 2014 without playing and would still like to be recommended for the World Cup squad. In the end he was not taken into account.

According to the club, national coach Julian Nagelsmann is not expected at the stadium on Thursday. “Forgive me for not thinking about the national coach’s schedule,” said Schuster. He knows what his players can achieve and their performance is not influenced by who is sitting in the stadium. “So it won’t help us if he’s there or not there.”