Preview: Braga vs Freiburg - prediction, team news, lineups

Estadio Municipal de Braga will stage an enticing Europa League first-leg tie between Braga and Freiburg on Thursday night.

Either Nottingham Forest or Aston Villa awaits the victors of this two-legged contest in the final at Besiktas Park in Istanbul on May 20.

Match preview

Fifteen years on from losing the Europa League final to Portuguese rivals Porto, Braga are preparing for just their second major European semi-final after beating Real Betis 5-3 on aggregate in the quarter-finals earlier this month.

The Arsenalists have recorded a total of seven wins from their 12 matches in this season’s competition (D3 L2), including five victories en route to finishing sixth in the 36-team League Phase and a 4-0 second-leg triumph over Ferencvaros in the last 16.

Managed by Carlos Vicens - formerly Pep Guardiola's assistant at Manchester City - Braga have made a notable impression in the Europa League, keeping a competition-high seven clean sheets. However, inconsistent domestic form has left them adrift of the Primeira Liga's top three.

Indeed, a seventh fourth-placed finish in nine seasons is on the cards for Braga, after a 2-1 defeat to Santa Clara last weekend has left them a whopping 16 points behind Sporting Lisbon in third with only three league games remaining.

Braga can therefore be forgiven for throwing everything at their Europa League semi-final, and Vicens’s side can take confidence from their four-game unbeaten home run against German opposition (W3 D1). They have also won three of their five European home games without conceding this term (D1 L1).

Freiburg had failed to progress beyond the last 16 of a major European competition prior to the current campaign, but the Bundesliga club now find themselves competing in their first-ever semi-final having gone from strength to strength under 41-year-old head coach Julian Schuster.

Breisgau-Brasilianer finished seventh in the 36-team League Phase, level on points with Braga (17), before thrashing Genk (5-2) and Celta Vigo (6-1) in the last 16 and quarter-finals respectively. Their triumph over the latter was described as a “very historic moment” by Schuster, who is keen to maintain his team’s “great focus” in the latter stages of the competition.

Freiburg’s domestic form has recently dipped, though, as a 2-1 semi-final defeat to Stuttgart in the DFB-Pokal was followed by a heavy 4-0 away loss to Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga last weekend, leaving them eighth in the table and just outside the European qualification spots on goal difference.

The German outfit head into Thursday’s first leg having won just two of their last nine Europa League away matches (D3 L4), failing to score in three of their last four and losing two of their last three without reply earlier this year.

Freiburg’s only previous experience in Portugal was back in 2013-14 when they played out a goalless stalemate with Estoril in the Europa League group stage; a similar result against Braga would not be the worst outcome in the world for Schuster’s side before returning to home spoil for next week’s second leg.

Braga Europa League form:

Braga form (all competitions):

Freiburg Europa League form:

Freiburg form (all competitions):

Team News

Braga will be without Diego Rodrigues (ankle), Sikou Niakate (Achilles) and Adrian Leon Barisic (adductor) due to injury, while German midfielder Florian Grillitsch is doubtful with a knock sustained against Santa Clara last weekend.

PSG loanee Gabriel Moscardo is ruled out through suspension, so Leonardo Lelo or Paulo Oliveira could be handed a start in the back three alongside Gustaf Lagerbielke and Vitor Carvalho.

Rodrigo Zalazar has scored a team-high 23 goals in all competitions this season, and the versatile attacker is expected to start in the final third along with Pau Victor and Ricardo Horta, who has four Europa League goals to his name.

As for Freiburg, midfielder Patrick Osterhage has been sidelined since the end of March with a knee injury, while defender Max Rosenfelder is also out as he continues to recover from a hamstring problem.

Jordy Makengo missed the defeat to Dortmund with a thigh issue, and it remains to be seen if he will be ready to return on Thursday. Christian Gunter will continue at left-back if needed.

Vincenzo Grifo is Freiburg’s top scorer in all competitions (13) and joint-top scorer in the Europa League with Yuito Suzuki (four). Both players are expected to start in attack along with Niklas Beste and central striker Igor Matanovic.

Braga possible starting lineup:

Hornicek; Lagerbielke, Carvalho, Leonardo Lelo; Gomez, Gorby, Grillitsch, Martinez; Zalazar, Victor, Horta

Freiburg possible starting lineup:

Atubolu; Treu, Ginter, Lienhart, Makengo; Eggestein, Manzambi; Beste, Suzuki, Grifo; Matanovic

We say: Braga 1-0 Freiburg

Keen to bounce back from domestic defeats last weekend, both Braga and Freiburg will back themselves to come out on top in what could prove to be a tight first-leg affair. However, the hosts’ defensive solidity may just give them the edge on this occasion.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.