28. Spieltag: So 28.03. 15:30 1899 Hoffenheim - SC Freiburg (0:1 loss, Hinrunde) 29. Spieltag: Sa 03.04. 15:30 SC Freiburg - VfL Bochum (1:2 win) 30. Spieltag: Sa 10.04. 15:30 SV Werder Bremen - SC Freiburg (0:6 loss) 31. Spieltag: Sa 17.04. 15:30 SC Freiburg - 1. FC Nürnberg (0:1 win) 32. Spieltag: So 25.04. 17:30 SC Freiburg - VfL Wolfsburg (2:2) 33. Spieltag: Sa 01.05. 15:30 1. FC Köln - SC Freiburg (0:0) 34. Spieltag: Sa 08.05. 15:30 SC Freiburg - Borussia Dortmund (1:0 loss) With four home games and only two top 5 teams, staying up looks achievable. But it will be VERY tough.
Exactly. The others have to drop points. If you guys get some points, you'll almost certainly pass Hannover, who should be Koln this weekend IMO, but then they have this four-match gauntlet: @HSV Schalke 04 @Bayern Muenchen @Bayer Leverkusen If you guys can pull away from them over those four weeks, then you should be OK. If not, they finish the season with Gladbach in Hannover and at Bochum. They can take six points there. Another thing, watch out for Koln falling back to the pack too......
One can only hope for that latter. This is fairly unscientific and does not take into account how a team is playing right now, but I have added up table spots of of the teams the bottom-of-the-table clubs are finishing with this season. The highest number means potentially the weakest schedule. Home games are in red. 13. Koeln (16+18+11+14+5+17+15=96) 14. Bochum (8+17+6+13+7+1+16=68) 15. FCN (5+9+10+17+4+6+13=64) 16. H96 (13+6+2+1+3+12+14=51) 17. Freiburg (11+14+5+15+10+13+4=72) 18. Berlin (4+13+7+8+2+3+1=38) Thoughts: On paper, Koeln seems to have the easiest schedule. Hannover has it rough as you pointed out, but Berlin is not going to have a fun last few weeks. Freiburg should pass Hannover at least based on their home games and the weaker schedule, but passing Nuernburg will be tougher. And Bochum should get by.
Superb analysis!! As far as "form" goes, I think of the six teams, the three in the best "form" right now are Bochum, FCN and Hannover in that order. I'm not going by how many matches they are winning, I'm going by their actual level of play no matter what the result. I said on another thread and here that Hannover might possibly be doomed because of that four-match gauntlet that includes three consecutive matches with the top three teams. I still believe that. But again, SCF is going to have to find a way to pull away during those four matches.....
Dreadful result. Freiburg has not scored more than 1 goal since December 5th, a 14 game span! They had 8 SoG yesterday and 19 overall, but just could not break through. This win woudl have put them level on points with Bochum and was a prime opportunity to win. It's making staying up look very difficult now.
Watching it. It helps SCF that Wolfsburg doesn't have anything left to play for. They can't make Europe now. EDIT: I was wrong. With a win or a draw here, they could still catch Stuttgart. If they lose here they are out of Europe!
I was listening on Bundesliga radio, but now have a stream (the German Sky feed) for the second half. Freiburg seem to be playing well, but I think it will take at least one more goal to secure the win. 45 minutes to go ...
managed to hold on! That is two weeks in a row that everything has gone perfectly for Freiburg. But the main thing is that they won there games. Koeln next week. You going to make the trip to Breisgau in two weeks?
Two more weeks to go: Freiburg Köln (A) Dortmund (H) Nürnberg Hamburg (A) Köln(H) Bochum Bayern (A) Hannover (H) Hannover Gladbach (H) Bochum (A) Berlin Leverkusen (A) Bayern (H)
Cisse - 2 goals! A massive win versus a Europa -bound Dortmund club! We started strong and finished strong. That's all that matters for this year. Now let's sign some players!
The way the Club managed to save themselves from relegation was pretty impressive. They were my #1 relegation candidate before the start of the season. Next season I'm sure Toprak will show why he's considered the best German CB talent. Looking forward to it.
A good interview with Robin Dutt on Freiburg's (unique) position within German professional soccer. http://www.zeit.de/sport/2010-04/dutt-freiburg-abstiegskampf?page=1 This quote explains Freiburg's philosophy: We see ourselves as being one of the top 25 teams in Germany, which also includes the top spots of the 2. Bundesliga. The team doesn't accept relegation, but the club is well-prepared for the 2. Liga. The contracts of almost all of the players are for both the the first and second Bundesliga. We are not scared of relegation like other teams might be who have spent money they don't have. What our finances mean: below average for the Bundesliga and above average for the 2. Bundesliga. (Former President) Achim Stocker, who is unfortunately no longer with us, developed a long-term plan that sees the first and second Bundesligen as one entity. Wir sehen uns unter den Top 25 in Deutschland und dazu gehören auch die oberen Plätze der Zweiten Liga. Das Team will natürlich nicht den Abstieg in Kauf nehmen, doch der Verein ist für die Zweite Liga gut gerüstet. Die Verträge mit fast allen Stammspielern gelten auch für die Zweite Bundesliga. Bei uns herrscht nicht die nackte Angst vor dem Abstieg, wie vielleicht bei anderen Vereinen, die Geld ausgeben, das sie gar nicht haben. Unsere finanziellen Mittel bedeuten: unterdurchschnittlich für die Erste und überdurchschnittlich für die Zweite Liga zu sein. Achim Stocker, der leider nicht mehr unter uns ist, hat einen langfristigen Plan vorgelegt, der die Erste und Zweite Liga als Ganzes sieht.
A very good way of saying, "We're too small to be major, we know it and we embrace it." Most clubs who do go broke, do so chasing excellence. I don't see anything wrong with them. However, you also have the dumbasses like Rostock and Bielefeld who were just stupid and can learn from Freiburg's point of view.
Does anybody have any insight on Zvonko Pamic? He is a 19 year old Croat who Leverkusen has sent to Freiburg on loan. Thanks http://www.spox.com/de/sport/fussba...ht-zvonko-pamic-von-bayer-leverkusen-aus.html Edit: Looks like Leverkusen just signed him in April, which was also in the article above. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zvonko_Pami%C4%87 Another edit: His father Igor was a Croatian national player and also played for Rostock between 1997 and 1999 - 13 goals in 37 games. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/startseite/525692/artikel_Pamic_Vertrag-bis-2012.html