Freiburg trainer Julian Schuster praises Kiliann Sildillia | OneFootball

One week after a surprise start yielded a match-winning-goal, out-of-favour Freiburg full-back Kiliann Sildillia turned in another solid performance in just his second meaningful Bundesliga appearance of the campaign. SCF trainer Julian Schuster remarked last week that choosing between regular starter Lukas Kübler and Sildillia “proved quite difficult”.

As it turned out, Kübler’s bout with illness handed Silldillia a start against Bochum. The 22-year-old defended tirelessly in defence of his team’s slender 1-0 lead. The hosting Breisgauer were ultimately able to edge out visiting Heidenheim and secure their second successive league win. Schuster’s team enter this weekend in the second Europa League qualifying place.

Schuster cited specific aspects of the French Olympic representative’s game for helping the team win last weekend. Kübler’s string of 19 straight starts (when healthy and eligible) might be in jeopardy this weekend against St. Pauli. It might also be the case that both Sildillia and Kübler feature in the XI whilst Schuster switches to a back-five.

“He [Sildillia] is great at defending, and is very aggressive,” Schuster – as quoted by Kicker’s Moritz Kreilinger – said. “There were two or three aerial duels that he won which helped defend [the 1-0 lead]. His performance is one of the foundations for us keeping a clean sheet.”

GGFN | Peter Weis