“That’s exactly what makes it so charming”
SC Freiburg has to compete in a special “rock stadium”.
April 30, 2026 – 2:27 p.mReading time: 1 min.
In the Europa League, SC Freiburg is fighting for a place in the final. They have to compete in a very special stadium – coach Julian Schuster has special memories.
Julian Schuster went into raptures. As soon as we got to the stadium it started to “tingle,” said the SC Freiburg coach before the semi-final first leg of the Europa League at Sporting Braga this Thursday (9 p.m./RTL). The Estádio Municipal – it is definitely not an ordinary football arena. And Schuster has special memories of it.
Before the 2004 European Championships in Portugal, the SC coach reported that he stuck stickers of the stadium in his scrapbook. “Those were my first contacts with it.” The 41-year-old continued that he thought it was “cool” to compete there himself.
The stadium in Braga only has two large stands and there is a massive rock wall behind one of the two goals. Some of the fans even only get to their block via the stadium roof. On one side of the field there is only a green meadow. The atmosphere will certainly be special, but still good, said Freiburg’s offensive player Niklas Beste.
“It’s exactly this charm when stadiums have different characters and look different – certainly depending on age,” said Schuster, who is clearly enjoying SC’s European Cup trips.
A lot has happened in Germany in the last few years, and some of the new stadiums have a certain similarity, said the Freiburg coach. Since the arenas must have “optimal infrastructural connections,” this is “understandable.” However, this charm is lost to some extent.