It’s about the journey, perhaps even more than the destination. That is the feeling of SC Freiburg before the biggest match in their history. Regardless of the result in Wednesday’s Europa League final against Aston Villa in Istanbul, the club will be present at a reception in the city on their Thursday return to acknowledge the moment and the compelling season that has taken them there.
There are many extraordinary elements to a club that have never won a major trophy – the closest they came was losing on penalties to RB Leipzig in the 2022 DFB Pokal final – arriving at such a showpiece, but for most in Germany the true wonder is that they have managed it without Christian Streich. The longest-serving coach in the Bundesliga stood down in 2024 having served Freiburg continuously in several roles for almost three decades, including as the first team’s head coach for the final 12 and a half.
Streich was an iconic coach who had led the club from the 2.Bundesliga to become top-flight regulars, from survival to European qualification, from the Dreisamstadion to the bigger, new Europa-Park Stadion. Freiburg were guided into a different dimension, like a provincial version of Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal or Atlético Madrid in the Diego Simeone era.
Streich was not even just part of the furniture, someone nationally synonymous with and representative of the club, a Jürgen Klopp-like figure in terms of his totemic qualities. He was a spiritual leader, engaging media and fans not only talking tactics but offering his philosophies on life in a down-to-earth, self-effacing manner uncommon in his profession. Throughout his tenure, he cycled to raining and to home matches (one of his first acts on retirement, to supplement his punditry, was to commit to a work placement at the local bike workshop Brody Bikeservice).
In the context of Streich and Freiburg, it made sense that his successor – whom he helped choose – was Julian Schuster, who played 10 years for Streich as captain before retiring in 2018 and integrating into the club’s coaching structure while studying for his DFB pro licence. Logical, perhaps, for a club built on continuity, but fraught with potential difficulty in following a club legend.
So what Schuster has done in his first two seasons in his first senior role is little short of sensational. Last term Freiburg missed out on Champions League football with defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt on the final day, having been in the top four every week in the final three-quarters of the season. Given that setback – and the loss of the influential forward Ritsu Doan to Frankfurt – this season has been even more impressive, not only because of the run to the final but because they finished this Bundesliga campaign in fine style, beating third-placed Leipzig 4-1 in a scintillating display to guarantee seventh and some form of European football. Should they lose to Aston Villa, they will take part in the Conference League.
Being able to focus on that objective so close to the final was no mean feat and is testament to Schuster’s emotional intelligence in managing his players. There has been a slight change in style under him; Freiburg still average comfortably below 50% possession but press and tackle more aggressively. If this can sometimes create vulnerabilities against high-class opponents they do have technical quality and old heads in players such as Matthias Ginter, who will surely go to the World Cup with Germany, and Vincenzo Grifo, who remains a deadly threat from set pieces, plus coveted youngsters such as Johan Manzambi and Igor Matanovic. One might say that Streich walked so Schuster could run, but run he has, and fast.
Yet the Freiburg modesty endures – they haven’t forgotten where they’re from or how they got here. The head of scouting, Klemens Hartenbach, still famously cracks open a bottle of champagne with his staff when the team reach 40 points, underlining that Streich’s way of looking at things endures. If anything epitomised how far they have come it was the farewell to Nicolas Höfler, who waved a glassy-eyed goodbye to the home fans after making his 382nd appearance against Leipzig.
He joined Freiburg at 15 and is 36, a squad member now but, as the banner behind the goal detailed in thanking him for his service, someone who has been on the whole journey from the second tier to Wednesday night’s final. When those supporters said: “Thank you for everything,” they really did mean everything. Should Freiburg prevail in Istanbul, a lifetime of thankyous await Schuster and his team.
