Freiburg and Braga go battle for Europa League final ticket for Thursday, as German side try to overturn 2-1 deficit from first leg for Minho.
Last week, Braga bin win 2-1 for home, with Mario Dorgeles scoring stoppage-time winner after Freiburg bin equalise through Vincenzo Grifo. Demir Ege Tıknaz bin open scoring for Braga, and Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu bin save penalty from Rodrigo Zalazar before half-time.
Freiburg don lose three matches in a row before that, including DFB-Pokal semi-final defeat to Stuttgart and Bundesliga loss to Borussia Dortmund. But on Sunday, Philipp Lienhart equaliser give dem 1-1 draw with Wolfsburg, pushing dem to seventh for Bundesliga table.
Julian Schuster side get strong home record for Europe, winning all last ten continental home matches, scoring 28 goals and conceding only four. But dem need to score at least once to stay alive.
Braga, on other hand, dey fourth for Primeira Liga, five points clear of fifth with two games remaining. Dem draw 1-1 with Estoril Praia last weekend, with Dorgeles again on target. Carlos Vicens men get two wins from last five matches, but dem don lose only one of last nine games overall.
Braga don show resilience for Europa League, losing just twice in last 20 outings. Dem don also recover from first-leg deficit before, like against Real Betis for previous round.
Freiburg go miss Yuito Suzuki due to collarbone fracture, and Max Rosenfelder, Patrick Osterhage, and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh dey out. Braga get long injury list: Ricardo Horta, Diego Rodrigues, Bright Arrey-Mbi, Adrian Barisic, Gabri Martínez, Florian Grillitsch, and Sikou Niakate all dey unavailable. Victor Gomez dey doubtful.
Possible lineups: Freiburg – Atubolu, Treu, Ginter, Lienhart, Makengo, Eggestein, Manzambi, Beste, Philipp, Grifo, Matanovic. Braga – Hornicek, Lagerbielke, V Carvalho, Moscardo, Dorgeles, Gorby, Tiknaz, Lelo, P Victor, Zalazar, Navarro.
Freiburg home record give dem hope, but recent form suggest dem fit fall short. Braga, with advantage, fit manage game and see am out. Draw likely here.
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