“That was an important win yesterday – for our confidence and for the team spirit. We want to carry on exactly like this and keep pushing ourselves further. The important thing now is to build up our energy, both mentally and physically, for Sunday,” said Carles Martínez, looking back on the 4-0 Europa League win away at Lech Poznań.
When asked about Afonso Moreira, who missed a promising chance against Poland shortly before the final whistle but was immediately consoled by his team-mates, Martínez said: “A very good example of our team spirit. Our club culture, where we act as a group and a family, is brilliant. You always have to pull together if you want to be successful. Of course, there’s always room for improvement. But you have to approach that with self-confidence – knowing that these are just minor details, and that, overall, a great deal is going well and on the right track. That mindset is important to me.”
Martínez: alwaYS PRODUCE "maximUM IntensitY"
With Freiburg, the Werkself now face the current Bundesliga leaders. SCF have yet to lose a match this season, either in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal or the UEFA Conference League. “I have great respect for them. They deserve to be top of the table. They compete with aggression and have a clear style of play. But we’re also in good form and are playing at home at our own stadium. We’re in a good place with our fans behind us”, said Martínez.
The Spaniard added: “It’s not just the results that matter to me, but also the team’s performance. That’s always fundamental to success. We want to field eleven players in every match who produce maximum intensity on the pitch.”
Martínez: "wide range of player profiles"
Talking of players: Among those unlikely to be available for the match against Freiburg is Martin Terrier. The Frenchman was substituted due to injury midway through the first half in Poznan. Martínez: “We’ll have to wait for more detailed information. He’s currently undergoing further tests. He’s naturally disappointed, and it’s looking rather unlikely he’ll be available for Sunday. I hope his absence will be as short as possible.”
However, the fact Martínez is now almost certainly without yet another attacking player for the time being – in addition to Christian Kofane, Montrell Culbreath and Eliesse Ben Seghir – does not worry the Spaniard: “We still have Patrik (Schick, ed.) and Boni (Victor Boniface, ed.) up front. Besides, these days there are other ways to get by. We have a wide range of attacking players in the squad.”
Home sections sold out
2,000 fans are expected from Freiburg, and the home sections will be completely full. The match will be shown live on DAZN. In addition, Werkself Radio will be broadcasting the match, and the Bayer 04 live text updates will also be available as usual. Both the radio commentary and the live text updates are on bayer04.de and via the club app.
