Freiburg Form
The Germans were not fazed by an away defeat to Genk (0:1) in the previous round, and in the return leg the team thrashed their opponents 5:1. As a result, after two unsuccessful attempts to get past the Europa League round of 16, Freiburg reached the quarter-finals of this competition for the first time in their history. In the 2025/26 Europa League campaign, Julian Schuster's side have lost only twice, and both defeats came away from home (6 wins, 2 draws). It is also worth adding that in the group stage the club finished in the top two for defensive performance, but the Germans are now on a three-match run of conceding.
- At least one side failed to score in five of Freiburg's last six Europa League matches.
- On home soil in this tournament, the team are on a six-game winning run.
- In Freiburg's last six home matches in the Europa League, the Germans have not conceded more than one goal.
Potential Freiburg Lineup (4-5-1)*
Noah Atubolu – Bruno Ogbus, Jordi Makengo, Matthias Ginter, Philipp Troy – Johan Manzambi, Yuito Suzuki, Jan-Niklas Beste, Vincenzo Grifo, Maximilian Eggestein – Igor Matanovic.
Defender Maximilian Rosenfelder and midfielder Daniel-Kofi Kyere will miss out through injury.
Celta Form
The Spanish side drew at home with Lyon (1:1) in the previous round, but in France they managed to get the required result – 2:0. Their unbeaten run in the Europa League has now reached six matches (4 wins, 2 draws), although Celta have kept a clean sheet only twice during this spell. The Galicians have reached the Europa League quarter-finals for the fifth time, but they have only managed to get past this stage in the 2016/17 season. It is also worth noting that, with 21 goals scored, the club are the highest scorers in the current edition of the tournament.
- Both teams scored in six of Celta's previous eight Europa League matches.
- Away from home in this tournament, the team have avoided defeat in nine of their last 11 matches (6 wins, 3 draws).
- In four of Celta's last five away Europa League games, the Spanish side scored at least two goals.
Potential Celta Lineup (3-4-3)*
Andrey Radu – Carl Starfelt, Marcos Alonso, Javi Rodriguez – Javier Rueda, Matias Vecino, Ilaix Moriba, Sergio Carreira – Williot Swedberg, Pablo Duran, Fernando Lopez.
Midfielders Matias Vecino and Miguel Roman, defender Carl Starfelt and forward Iago Aspas are unavailable through injury. Defender Javi Rueda is suspended.
Who Will Referee the Match
Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
Matches – 11 (international matches, 2025/26);
Yellow cards shown (including second yellows) – 4.0;
Average yellow cards per match – 3.6;
Red cards shown – 2;
Fouls per match on average – 23;
Penalties – 27%.
* For each team, the starting XI from their previous match in this tournament is listed.
