Freiburg: 2021/22 season preview
Heading into Christian Streich's tenth full season at the Freiburg helm, the bar is slowly being raised in the Black Forest, where a plush new stadium is ready for them.
Last season
It is a mark of the remarkable job that Streich has done since taking charge of Freiburg in January 2012 that, aside from in 2015, relegation has rarely been a threat, and last season confirmed their consolidation since returning to the top flight after just one year in Bundesliga 2. "They should just send this trophy down to Freiburg every year," said former Mainz and Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel after being named Germany's Coach of the Year in 2021, after guiding English club Chelsea to victory in the UEFA Champions League. That was even more acknowledgement of how a tenth-placed finish for Freiburg is on a par with lifting Europe's biggest club competition with a top club.
Streich succeeded in guiding Freiburg to another care-free season despite losing three key players in Luca Waldschmidt, Robin Koch and Alexander Schwolow in the summer transfer window. Not only were Freiburg never in any danger of going down, they were also knocking on the door for qualification for Europe, and after finishing eighth in 2019/20, a single-digit finish will be within their sights again this time around.
New arrivals
Rather than focus on new arrivals, a major fillip for Streich is the fact he has not lost any of his key players this summer, allowing him to build on last season's success with the same tools. Vincenzo Grifo has resisted overtures to stay, while captain Christian Günter has even extended his contract in the Black Forest.
As is Streich's philosophy, a host of youngsters have been promoted to the first team from Freiburg's reserves - who won promotion to the third division last season - and he will try to further their development, with veteran forward Nils Petersen sharing his experience as he enters into his eighth season with the club.
How might Freiburg line up?
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What to expect
When Freiburg move into their plush new home this season, they do so as a well-established Bundesliga club who, after years of selling their top brass every summer to make ends meet, now go into a new campaign the way they ended the last. Streich has twice led an unfancied Baden-Württemberg team into Europe and, while the main priority will once again be to avoid relegation, the club's foundations have been strengthened so much over recent years that a serious stab at luring European football to the SC-Stadion next season could be on the cards.
The club have announced that they intend to move into their new 34,700-capacity home during the international break in September, with the first competitive match there scheduled to be against RB Leipzig on Matchday 8 in October. The Schwarzwald-Stadion - now reverted back to its traditional name of Dreisamstadion - will play host to the first three home games of the season. The club's reserves have already made the ground their home in the third division, with the women's team to follow once the men's first team have made the move.
Opening fixtures
DFB Cup: Würzburger Kickers 0-1 Freiburg
Arminia Bielefeld vs. Freiburg (Saturday, 14 August)
Freiburg vs. Borussia Dortmund (Saturday, 21 August)
VfB Stuttgart vs. Freiburg (Saturday, 28 August)
Freiburg vs. Cologne (Saturday, 11 September)
Mainz vs. Freiburg (Saturday, 18 September)
Freiburg vs. Augsburg (Sunday, 26 September)
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