SC Freiburg 2026/27 preview: transfers, pre-season, predicted XI and season outlook | OneFootball

SC Freiburg open 2026/27 under Julian Schuster after reaching their first European final last term, losing 3-0 to Aston Villa. They host Werder Bremen after the second leg of a Conference League play-off against Motherwell. Per BuLi News, a strong campaign is the aim.

Pre-season brought a 3-1 win over Derby County, a 3-0 defeat to Greuther Fürth and two 2-0 wins over Strasbourg, then a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace. Freiburg carried that into wins over Motherwell and Fortuna Düsseldorf, and meet Motherwell again.

Goalkeeper Mio Backhaus has arrived from Bremen and started both matches. Atubolu’s future is uncertain, though he is set to sign a new deal. Rihito Yamamoto and Yannik Engelhardt bolster midfield, and Keisuke Goto joins from Anderlecht after 10 goals and five assists at Sint-Truiden.

Johan Manzambi’s move to Aston Villa is the headline departure after his rise in Breisgau. Junior Adamu has joined Schalke, with Noah Weißhaupt and Robert Wagner moving to Darmstadt and Dynamo Dresden.

Predicted XI, 4-2-3-1: Backhaus; Treu, Ginter, Rosenfelder, Makengo; Eggestein, Engelhardt; Beste, Suzuki, Grifo; Matanovic. The Crystal Palace selection points to Schuster’s first choice, with Lienhart pushing at centre-back and Scherhant for minutes.

Freiburg finished seventh with 47 points, 12 behind Bayer Leverkusen and 14 off Hoffenheim. Losing Manzambi and switching to Backhaus are significant, yet the newcomers have settled and the core endures. A European finish is the target, and if they complete the job against Motherwell they should be among the stronger Conference League sides.

Source: BuLi News

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”