Kovac before Freiburg: “We want to end the calendar year with two wins” | OneFootball

The scenarioBorussia Dortmund have three days off after Wednesday evening’s Champions League home game against Bodø/Glimt before facing Freiburg – Sport-Club have to play Salzburg at home in the Europa League on Thursday evening and therefore have one day less to prepare. “We have to show a reaction after yesterday’s game – just as we did after the cup game. That’s what I expect from us,” says Niko Kovac, referring to the draw against Bodø/Glimt. Borussia are unbeaten in six Bundesliga games (four wins, two draws), with back-to-back wins against Hoffenheim (2-0) and Leverkusen (2-1). During the same period, Freiburg have recorded two wins (Mainz, St. Pauli) and one draw (Union Berlin), as well as three defeats (Heidenheim, Bayern, Leverkusen). Should Leipzig lose at Union Berlin on Friday evening, BVB would climb to second place in the table with a win on Sunday.

Personnel mattersMarcel Sabitzer, who missed Wednesday evening’s Champions League match, is still struggling with muscle stiffness. Diagnoses are still pending after Waldemar Anton and Aaron Anselmino were both substituted due to injury against Bodø/Glimt. “Otherwise, everyone has come through it well,” said Kovac, who will ask his team to attend a final training session on Saturday ahead of the match against Freiburg. “Then everyone who isn’t injured should be back on board.”

The oppositionThe team from Breisgau are currently ninth in the Bundesliga table with 16 points – Koln, Gladbach and Bremen have the same tally. Coach Julian Schuster’s team are six points behind the European places (sixth place, Stuttgart, on 22 points) and five points clear of the relegation play-off spot (16th place, Heidenheim, 11 points). It is not easy for Niko Kovac to assess Freiburg’s current form: Sport-Club advanced to the quarter-finals of the cup with a 2-0 win over Darmstadt, but then followed this up with a 2-1 loss in Heidenheim.

Nevertheless, the BVB coach is wary of his next opponents. “We await a team who are very dangerous from set pieces,” explains Kovac – and rightly so: half of Freiburg’s 20 Bundesliga goals have come from dead-ball situations. “We’ll have to be extremely careful.” One thing is already certain for Kovac before the team sets off: “We want to win the next two games to end the calendar year with two wins.”

A steady stream of three points in Freiburg’s stadiumIn October 2021, SC Freiburg moved from playing their home games at the Dreisamstadion to the Europa-Park-Stadion, less than six kilometres away as the crow flies. Borussia have won every game at Freiburg’s new home ground so far – the two clubs have met three times since the move, and Dortmund have celebrated three victories (4-1, 4-2, 3-1). In their most recent win in April 2025 (4-1), Karim Adeyemi, Jamie Gittens, Serhou Guirassy and Carney Chukwuemeka were the goalscorers, with the latter making his debut appearance in the starting XI.

Nina Bargel-Neuhaus