SC Freiburg vs. SC Braga preview: Team news and predicted lineups
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Julian Schuster’s side will hope to reverse last week’s defeat in Braga as they host the Portuguese side at the Europa-Park Stadion on Thursday night. Carlos Vicens’ men won the first leg after Mario Dorgeles benefited from Noah Atubolu’s 92nd-minute howler.
Freiburg’s goalkeeper saved yet another penalty-kick before his mistake gave a slight advantage for the 2010/11 Europa League finalists. Vincenzo Grifo scored the goal for the Bundesliga outfit as the first two goals came inside the opening 15 minutes.
Both teams drew their respective league games on Sunday, 1-1. Substitute Philipp Lienhart denied relegation-threatened Wolfsburg three points in Dieter Hecking’s 450th Bundesliga game, while midtable side Estoril held Braga to a stalemate.
Dorgeles, whose only 2026 goals came in the domestic cup competitions before Thursday, found the net for the second time in three days. Braga only need a single point from the remaining two games to secure a European spot, although the gap with third-placed Sporting is now 19 points.
As for Freiburg, the Breisgau Brazilians climbed to seventh place as Eintracht Frankfurt fell to a home defeat to HSV. However, Yuito Suzuki’s injury in the closing stages of Sunday’s game against Wolfsburg was a huge blow as the in-form Japanese is out for the rest of the season.
Suzuki scored three goals in the previous knockout stage ties against Genk and Celta de Vigo. Nonetheless, the atmosphere is still upbeat at Freiburg. The game was refereed as "One of the biggest games in the club's history," by the captain Christian Günter.
Team News
Apart from the recent setback, the hosts will have a full squad for Thursday’s game. Derry Scherhant and the versatile Lucas Höler could be options to fill for the absence of Suzuki. Lienhart and Igor Matanović are also expected to start after coming off the bench on Sunday, while Jordy Makengo will also most likely start ahead of the skipper.
Ricardo Horta will be absent after coming off injured in the first-half of last week’s encounter. Ex-Hoffenheim midfielder Florian Grillitsch is also on the sidelines, while Gabriel Moscardo will be back from suspension.
Team News
Freiburg: Atubolu; Makengo, Lienhart, Ginter, Treu; Eggestein, Manzambi; Grifo ©, Höler, Beste; Matanović
Braga: Hornicek; Lagerbielke, Vitor Carvalho, Moscardo; Gomez, Moutinho ©, Gorby, Tiknaz; Zalazar, Dorgeles; Victor
