Freiburg's Wooyeong Jeong: "I hope I can deliver against Bayern Munich too"

Jeong first moved to the Bayern academy from Incheon United in January 2018, but now he is thriving at Freiburg. He has already scored three times this season to help his team to third in the table.

Christian Streich's side lie only three points behind league leaders Bayern, and Jeong is hoping their dream season can continue with another positive result in Munich.

"When I came to Freiburg, one of my goals was to play against Bayern at some point," the 22-year-old told the Bayern website. "Now I'm really looking forward to the clash. I had a difficult start, but things are going very well at the moment. I hope I can deliver against FCB too."

Jeong played twice for Bayern's first team, making his debut in a 5-1 Champions League win over Benfica in November 2018. He followed up with another substitute appearance in a March 2019 Bundesliga victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach by the same scoreline.

"Everyone dreams of one day playing for Bayern," he said. "It's a big team and a unique club."

Jeong left for Freiburg in July 2019 in search of more first-team minutes, but in January 2020 moved back to Munich on loan. There he flourished under current Hoffenheim boss Sebastian Hoeneß - who he is still in regular contact with - and helped Bayern's reserve team win the German third division.

Jeong had a goal and eight assists in the second half of that 2019/20 season, a period he says was "very, very important" to his development.

"Sebastian Hoeneß told me that if I played like I did when I was previously in Munich, I would be in the starting XI," he said. "So I gained a lot of confidence and I'm proud that I was able to contribute to winning the third division championship. That was the absolute highlight of my time at Bayern."

A successful second spell with Bayern enabled the youngster to return to Freiburg a different player. He got four goals in 26 top-flight appearances last season, and earned his first senior cap for South Korea in March 2021.

Having made nine league starts in 2020/21 - two more than he managed last term - Jeong has now become a key part of a Freiburg side that have also qualified for the last 16 of the DFB Cup. The attacking midfielder has already contributed to four of their league points directly this season. He scored twice in the 3-2 win at VfB Stuttgart on Matchday 3 before getting an equaliser - the first goal at Freiburg's new stadium - in a 1-1 draw with RB Leipzig on Matchday 8.

"Now I can feel the coach has absolute confidence in me," the Man of the Matchday for Week 8 explained. "He talks to me a lot, which gives me confidence, even if I make a mistake. Christian Streich has a terrific mix: sometimes he's strict, sometimes he's like a father figure.

"Bayern and Freiburg are two completely different clubs. I've always given everything, but the coach demanded that my tackling improve. At Bayern, it was less about issues like winning the ball and more about attacking play and footballing solutions. In the past, I had a harder time with defensive challenges and transitioning after losing the ball. I want to continue working on that."

The next chance to do so comes with a trip to the defending champions on Saturday afternoon, when Jeong can show his former teammates just how much he has improved.