Freiburg's Atubolu to receive start against Sandhausen
SC Freiburg trainer Christian Streich has confirmed that Germany U21 keeper Noah Atubolu will start in goal during tomorrow evening's DFB Pokal fixture against SV Sandhausen.
After the 1-5 shellacking at the hands of Borussia Dortmund over the weekend, SC Freiburg keeper Mark Flekken will be given a break in Freiburg's round-of-16 DFB Pokal fixture against BaWü rivals SV Sanhausen tomorrow. This was confirmed by SCF trainer Christian Streich at a Monday presser. Twenty-year-old Noah Atubolu will start in his place.
The highly regarded German youth international still awaits his first Bundesliga appearance, but has been used twice by Streich thus far this year; once in the second round of the cup and once in an Europa League group stage "dead rubber". The 20-year-old is widely regarded to be Freiburg's keeper of the future and recently signed a contract extension.
Despite the loss over the weekend, Streich declared himself optimistic about his sides prospects on the trip north tomorrow. The 2021/22 DFB Pokal finalists must remain - per Streich - "focused and motivated" in order to find their way back to the Final. Streich will have to serve a touchline ban in the next league match after being ejected against Dortmund on Saturday.