“We were lucky that it was hot today.”

A 15:30 fixture that began with an Ermedin Demirovic dream strike in the 2nd minute ended up taking a very much unexpected turn on Saturday afternoon in Breisgau. Underdog hosts SC Freiburg ended up scoring three unanswered goals against their visiting northern BaWü neighbors VfB Stuttgart. After accepting Stuttgart trainer Sebastian Hoeneß’ congratulations at a joint post-match presser, Freiburg’s rookie trainer assessed the win glibly.

“It wasn’t the start we had envisioned,” Schuster said, “That made the reaction all the more satisfying. It was great that they had patience against the ball and executed the plan and found their way into the game.” 

“We’re naturally very happy about this derby victory against a very strong team,” Schuster continued, “They [Stuttgart] have an uncanny amount of quality. That’s why they’re representing Germany internationally, no doubt.”

Kicker Magazine journalist Thiemo Müller asked if a hydration break that took place shortly before Freiburg’s 26th-minute equalizer helped the team out. Schuster – taking a sip of water himself whilst listening to the question – dropped his serious demure and cracked a smile. 

“We were lucky that it was hot today and we got to use that ‘drinks break’,” Schuster answered, “They [the team] adapted themselves to the game plan and affirmed it. We talked about using the space on the [Stuttgart] left-hand-side [weak due to Hoeneß’ tactics] and they exploited that.” 

“They did it much better than before the drinks’ break,” Schuster concluded.