Bundesliga 2019/20: SC Freiburg vs Hoffenheim

Hoffenheim, fresh off their DFB-Pokal defeat to Bayern Munich, came to SC Freiburg’s Schwarzwald-Stadion looking to pick up their fifth win in their last six Bundesliga matches. Freiburg, who sit just one place below them in the Bundesliga table, started the match just four points off of Hoffenheim. An even match led to both teams creating quality chances, resulting in a very even expected goals scoreline. Ultimately, Luca Waldschmidt’s penalty was the difference for Christian Streich’s squad. His shot propelled Freiburg to a 1-0 victory, keeping them in eighth place, one point off of Hoffenheim.

This tactical analysis will examine the tactics used by both Hoffenheim and SC Freiburg in their Bundesliga match. The analysis will look to better understand the tactics used by both Christian Streich and Alfred Schreuder in the 1-0 Freiburg victory.

Lineup

Christian Streich’s Freiburg lined up in a 4-4-2 with Alexander Schwolow in goal. In front of him, Dominique Heintz and Robin Koch were the centre back pairing, with Christian Günter playing as the left back and Jonathan Schmid as the right back. The two central midfielders were Nicolas Höfler and Amir Abrashi, who are both defensive midfielders by trade. Lucas Höler worked on the left wing while Chang-hun Kwon found himself down the right side of the pitch. The two strikers were Nils Petersen and the aforementioned Luca Waldschmidt, who scored the lone goal on the day.

Alfred Schreuder sent out his Hoffenheim squad in a 3-5-2 formation, looking to gain a man advantage in the midfield. Philipp Pentke started in goal as Oliver Baumann is still out with an injury. The three centre backs were the captain Benjamin Hübner, Ermin Bicakcic, and Stefan Posch. In front of the defenders were Sebastian Rudy, Florian Grillitsch, and Diadie Samassékou in the centre of the midfield. Robert Skov was the left winger while Pavel Kaderabek was on the right side. Hoffenheim’s two strikers on the day were Munas Dabbur and Christoph Baumgartner.