Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson has learned from his previous Bundesliga encounters that Motherwell must approach Freiburg without fear. The Steelmen host last year's Europa League finalists in the first-leg of their Conference League play-off at Fir Park.
Johansson faced Mainz at the same stage last season with Rosenborg and has many things he can take from that encounter into this one.
Lessons from German football
The Swede said: "I would say that what I learned last year against Mainz is that you can approach games in Europe in a way that you can be brave to play your way against bigger teams. Then some priorities you might need to tweak a little bit.
"I also learned a lot about German football and Bundesliga football because before I've been watching a lot of Bundesliga games on TV, but to experience it by doing analysis process on Mainz last year and then to go on and play the games, you also learn a lot about German football, the style of play that is very similar in many of the teams.
"I see similarities between Mainz and Freiburg. Also, I learned going to Mainz how the environment is in the German stadiums. I've also watched other games live in Bundesliga. I learned a lot about the style of play of the German teams, the energy that they have, the pace in the league, the energy and atmosphere at the stadium in Mainz.
"Also, that you can do well against the other teams in Europe. I have that from last year, I have that from my time in Copenhagen where you need to approach these games in a fearless way and be brave to still do your thing, not showing too much respect because that's what also helped us against Helsinki, that we maintained ourselves and that's very important."
Copenhagen influence and financial gap
Johansson was also brought through in a coaching environment at Copenhagen, where they regularly defied the odds, especially in Europe. He stated: "My upbringing as a coach mainly has come from Copenhagen. I'm heavily influenced by Copenhagen and coaches from there; Jacob Neestrup, who is now at Panathinaikos, Stale Solbakken, who is the manager of Norway at the moment, both club legends at FC Copenhagen. Both have brought the club to Champions League twice, punching above their weight class and going really far in Europa League in the COVID period.
"I remember playing a brilliant game, the first team of Copenhagen against Manchester United, probably should have won that game but didn't go through. Incredible standout Champions League performances for FC Copenhagen in many seasons. I learned a lot from there about how you can approach games."
Freiburg has spent more than £30 million on players this summer and the financial gulf between the two teams is massive. Johansson added: "It's a big difference, let's just call it that. But then again, it's 11 versus 11 and it's one ball. We will try our best to perform as well as we can with a strong mentality and are really looking forward to this challenge."
Team news and new signing
Jake Girdwood-Reich knows that for some of the Motherwell squad this will be the biggest game of their lives. This match brings back memories and nostalgia from the mid-90s when Motherwell took on German heavyweights Borussia Dortmund. He added: "Yeah, but we can't focus on it. Of course, I get the questions from you, the guys inside, friends, people in the street. But we can't focus on that. There is this saying in English that you shouldn't play the occasion, right? We have to play our game, respecting everything that is surrounding us but not focusing too much on it. We have to focus on ourselves and our game and what we have to do on the pitch."
Motherwell have signed Seb Palmer-Houlden from Gillingham. They hope to get clearance for him to make his debut tonight. The former Dundee loanee will offer something different up top. Johansson claimed: "When we've been playing with Cookie (Regan Charles-Cook) as a No. 9, he's making a lot of the runs in behind which Seb will provide us as well. I don't see huge differences. Seb is a more natural striker than him and is a little bit bigger guy, in some duels he can use his physicality in another way, but I don't see big changes. Seb is brought to us to fit the style of play, adding some capabilities that some of the other players that are playing at the moment don't have, but they have things that Seb doesn't have."
That should soften the blow with the news that Oscar Priestman and Johnny Koutroumbis are likely to be out for at least four weeks. This game comes too early for Eythor Bjorgolfsson, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Stephen O'Donnell but they could feature in next Thursday's return. The Motherwell manager confirmed: "We're building them up at the moment. They have started to train a little bit more now with the ball. Getting closer but not ready for this game. We put them in because we know that there can be a possibility that one, two or three of them can be involved to some extent in one of the legs or both. I don't have any info on that now. We will assess and then we'll see what decisions we make."
Motherwell are still looking to further with one of the top talents in Finnish football is on their radar.
