The lawn alone. He tells us that there are two worlds within the Bundesliga. If the footballers of the SC Freiburg compete on Friday night for the match against the third in the table Bayern (19:15 clock / TV: Eurosport), then they do so in the high-gloss home on the Bayern campus, where each straw is perfectly trimmed.
The SC Freiburg, currently table eights, looks different. "If it rains with us, the place is under water and then you can not see the ground because of the mud," says Lena Lotzen. The 26-year-old knows both worlds. Once at Bayern she rose to the national team. In 2018 she moved to Freiburg. The SC players complete their units in the Schönberg Stadium - in the middle of an industrial area, between gas station and hardware store, six kilometers away from the Black Forest Stadium, the home of their male Bundesliga counterparts.
Five former Freiburg women play at Bayern
Despite a training ground that does not really meet the requirements of a Bundesliga club, SC Freiburg has become a kind of germ cell of German football. "The SC is an exemplary talent factory, which succeeds again and again in an impressive way to train and develop highly talented players," says coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg the SPIEGEL. For the past World Cup, she appointed nine players who learned to play in Freiburg, or gave their careers new momentum.
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Freiburg players celebrate a goal against Bayern
Star player Sara Däbritz (now Paris Saint-Germain) made her first Bundesliga games here, as well as Giulia Gwinn, the best young women's player of the World Cup, or European champion Melanie Leupolz, Olympic champion Laura Benkarth and Champions League winner Verena Schweers. Lina Magull, Carolin Simon and Merle Frohms have gained a foothold in Freiburg after difficult career phases. At Bayern, five former Freiburg women play in Benkarth, Schweers, Gwinn, Simon and Magull. They are coached by Jens Scheuer, who spent four years at the sports club on the sidelines and Freiburg had led in the cup season last season.
- Read a SPIEGEL interview with Bayern coach Scheuer: "I have the ambition that we will be the best"
Scheuer knows that it can have disadvantages to be such a successful training club: "You have to start all over again," he says in an interview with SPIEGEL. It is a Sisyphean task. For years talents are promoted. But at some point they outgrow the SC and change. Just like last Gwinn, who will miss the match against her old club Freiburg.
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Jochen Saier, board member at SC Freiburg: "We do it out of conviction."
And the sports club will not get rich either, says CEO Jochen Saier: "The truth is that changes in the men's area are an economic necessity, but for women, transfer fees, advertising revenue and TV money are far from covering the budget that's out of conviction, "says Saier the SPIEGEL. The solvent men department ensures planning security in the women's field. And that is important in Freiburg.
"At SC Freiburg, women have been playing football for almost 45 years - as a solid, important, equal and therefore also successful part of the club," says Fritz Keller to SPIEGEL. The 62-year-old was SC president for many years. Since the end of September he is president of the German Football Association (DFB) and wants to promote the football of women in Germany in this function. That is also necessary, because in international comparison, Germany threatens to be suspended.
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In Spain, Italy and England spectator records were last set up. In the Bundesliga Master Wolfsburg comes to just 2,000 visitors on average. In Freiburg, there are just under 1500. In England, professional clubs are required to provide a professional women's team. In Spain and France, the top clubs have followed suit. It does not exist in Germany yet.
"If everyone recognizes and promotes the promotion of women's football as their task, we will not only be able to catch up athletically with other nations who are currently hurrying away, but will also benefit society as a whole," says Keller. The DFB president hopes that other German clubs are based on the Freiburg model. And that is very special.
The dual training path as a location advantage
Because the SC relies on a dual system. "In Freiburg, you can combine top-class sport and training," says Bayern goalkeeper Benkarth. As a youth player she lived in the sports boarding school of the Freiburg Olympic training center and attended a cooperative school. Also Gwinn decided because of the boarding school for Freiburg. It is a location advantage in the competition for the best talents.
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Klara Bühl (right) has already completed 70 Bundesliga games at the age of 18
One of the biggest in Germany is Klara Bühl. The 18-year-old decided to stay in Freiburg for another year after finishing school. Also, because she can grow slowly here. "You get time and can make mistakes," says Bühl the SPIEGEL. She has already completed 70 Bundesliga games and scored seven goals in ten A-internationals. Buhl comes from the Freiburg Zukunftsfabrik, of which the DFB profits greatly. Currently also 15 SC-footballers play in the youth national teams.
In Freiburg, the infrastructure may well grow soon: If the Bundesliga men move to their new stadium next year, the women may take over the Black Forest Stadium. CEO Jochen Saier says: "We plan to finally be able to offer adequate training conditions there, which would be an essential step." That would be good news for German football.