It’s the top game of the 14th Bundesliga matchday: On Wednesday evening (8:30 p.m. in the audio live stream and ticker in the SpiO app and on sport-im-osten.de) RB Leipzig and SC Freiburg meet: sixth place takes second place. National player Lukas Klostermann could finally make his comeback at RB after a long injury.
RB Leipzig versus SC Freiburg. Sounds unspectacular, but since last May this is no longer an ordinary duel. Of course we are talking about the last DFB Cup final, the duel of the untitled at that time. RB had this with luck, skill and outnumbered 5:3 after penalties won.
Exactly 172 days later, both clubs meet again. No question: SC Freiburg still has a score to settle.
Both teams are doing really well at the moment. The game stress of the still ongoing “English phase” (13 games in 6 weeks) doesn’t seem to bother them much: RB remained unbeaten in all 11 games so far, the Breisgauer only had to admit defeat to FC Bayern. In addition, home strength and away power meet on Wednesday. Exciting.
Past cup final uninteresting for Rose
Marco Rose also expects a correspondingly close match. “They have a high individual player quality that has grown over the years under Christian Streich,” said the RB coach on Tuesday. “Working and fighting football, but also playing football,” he summarized SC Freiburg. But the people of Leipzig are also in a good mood and uncomfortable to play with, Rose continued. “Of course we want to throw that into the balance, that’s for sure. Accordingly, we will carry our self-confidence onto the pitch and fight for the result.”
The last meeting in the last DFB Cup final no longer plays a role for the coach. Not least because Domenico Tedesco was still in the Leipzig coaching chair at the time. “The cup final doesn’t interest me anymore. Tomorrow isn’t the cup, tomorrow is the championship. There’s no reason for me to think about it,” Rose made clear.
Simakan still questionable – Klostermann back?
Rose did not want to finally confirm whether the ailing Mohamed Simakan could be there against Freiburg. The Frenchman’s shoulder problems recurred after the Donetsk game, meaning that a game on Wednesday is not guaranteed. There is good news for that Luke Klosterman. After tearing his syndesmosis ligament, the defender mostly takes part in team training and could be back on the pitch against Freiburg. “Pretty sure in Bremen,” explained Rose.
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sk/vk
