Europa League

LIVE: Can Salzburg now hold their own against Freiburg

Salzburg makes a guest appearance in Freiburg.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Sixth round of the Europa League. SC Freiburg host FC Salzburg, we report live - see ticker below. The score is currently 0:0.

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In the Europa League, Red Bull Salzburg will face a club that is often seen as the antithesis of modern soccer. This is most obvious when looking at the personnel continuity at the club from Baden-Württemberg. Julian Schuster is only the fifth coach at the Breisgauer since July 1, 1991. "Personnel continuity at our club is one of our success factors," said SC board member Oliver Leki.

Leki, who is also a member of the executive committee of the German Football League (DFL), also points to continuity. The 52-year-old has been working in leading positions at SC since 2013, with the rest of the board and the sporting management around Jochen Saier and Klemens Hartenbach taking up their posts at almost the same time - both have been at the club of the two ÖFB players Philipp Lienhart and Junior Adamu for around 25 years.

Finke and Streich formative long-term coaches
The foundations were laid by long-term president Achim Stocker (1972 - 2009), who, according to Bayern Munich's long-term functionary Uli Hoeneß, still "greased the buns in the VIP room". The most influential long-term figures in the sporting arena were two coaches. Volker Finke led Freiburg from 1991 to 2007, Christian Streich was on the sidelines from 2011 to 2024 - and was allowed to continue after relegation in 2015. It remains to be seen whether current coach Julian Schuster will have a similar "lifespan". Like Streich, however, he is also a "child" of the club.

Julian Schuster(Bild: EPA/MARTIN DIVISEK)

"We have people at the club who have been there for a very long time and therefore also feel a special responsibility towards the club," explained Leki with regard to the underlying philosophy. "As a club, we need a clear strategy, but it's also always about the people involved: the professional quality in key positions, the way they deal with each other and mutual trust."

"Remain humble"
For a comparatively small club that is currently in its 26th season in the top flight since its first promotion in 1993, Freiburg can boast considerable success. They finished third in 1995 and have finished in the top six three times in the last four seasons. For the current Bundesliga ninth-placed team, however, this could be a close call this season. The club reached the last 16 of the Europa League in both 2023 and 2024, and Freiburg should at least make it there this season. Currently fourth in the EL table, they are on the right track.

With goalkeeper Noah Atubolu, captain Christian Günter and former DFB team player Matthias Ginter, the club's own soccer academy plays a prominent role on the pitch, a fact that not least reflects SC's roots in the region. Financially, the club is not taking a gamble on principle. At EUR 162.8 million, turnover in the 2024/25 financial year is at a similar level to that of Salzburg (EUR 156.7 million), and surpluses are consistently generated. Or, in the words of Supervisory Board Chairman Heinrich Breit: "It's important that we remain humble and stay with ourselves."