Maximilian Eggestein admits Freiburg didn’t plan to reach Europa League final | OneFootball

Maximilian Eggestein agrees with the surprise element of SC Freiburg reaching a European final in his pre-match press conference. The 29-year-old midfielder believes finding the right balance is key for Freiburg to win the final.

“At the start of the competition, we didn't think we might end up playing in the final,” admits Eggestein in the official pre-game interview. “As the season went on, we started to believe that we could do it. We're very proud to be here, and we hope we can take that final step tomorrow and make our city very proud.”

The former Werder Bremen central midfielder only missed one game in all competitions. Virgil Van Dijk and Maxence Lacroix are the only players from Europe’s top-five leagues to play more minutes than Eggestein this season.

“You have to find a bit of a balance between enjoying the whole experience and feeling the right amount of tension ahead of tomorrow's game,” said the former Germany U21 international before analyzing the opponents.

“Aston Villa are a strong team individually, but they're also very good as a unit. We know what we're up against, but we also have a few ideas about how we can pull this off, and hopefully we'll be able to execute those ideas well tomorrow."