For third division club Rot-Weiss Essen, the 4-3 win over SC Freiburg II continues with an English week.

“In the 3rd division, it doesn’t matter whether you play against the league leaders or the bottom team.” These were the words of Christoph Dabrowski at the press conference before the home game between Rot-Weiss Essen and SC Freiburg’s U23 team.

And the RWE head coach was right: Although the home side won 4-3 (1-2) in a dramatic game in front of 14,527 fans, Freiburg’s U23 team gave Dabrowski’s team all it could handle and even led 3-2 until the 89th minute. The ninth home win of the season was well-deserved, but required a great deal of hard work against the effective guests from the city of Breisgau.

The three points not only extended RWE’s strong home record (29 points from 13 games), but also its flawless statistics against SC Freiburg II. Essen has won all four games against the young SCF reserves since being promoted in 2022 (11:3 goals).

And that despite the fact that Freiburg was still runner-up last year. Somehow, the bottom-placed team seems to be a kind of “favorite opponent” for the red-and-whites. RWE has not had such a record against any other opponent since returning to the third division.

The Dabrowski team now continues with an English week. First up is the clash at 1860 Munich and former coach Argirios Giannikis on Tuesday evening (February 6, 7 p.m.). It is the rescheduled game from the beginning of December. Just four days later (February 10, 2 p.m.), RWE will then be guests of second-division relegated team and league leaders SSV Jahn Regensburg.

After three narrow 1-2 away defeats, the team in fifth place in the table would finally like to take something away from an away game again – ideally as early as Tuesday at the “Lions”. “We’re obviously delighted. Games against 1860 Munich, whether at home or away, are always cool,” says center back José-Enrique Ríos Alonso, looking ahead.