SC Freiburg face SC Braga away from home in the first-leg of the Europa League semi-final encounter. The Bundesliga outfit reached the last four of a European competition for the first time in their history. Braga lost to fellow Portuguese side Porto in the final of the Europa League back in the 2010/11 season.
Julian Schuster’s side knocked out Genk and Celta Vigo in spectacular fashion in previous rounds. They scored 11 goals in their last three games and have only conceded two. However, Freiburg lost in the last two domestic games.
The dramatic defeat in Stuttgart that ended their DFB-Pokal dream followed by a heavy loss to Borussia Dortmund in Bundesliga. If Freiburg have to play in Europe, they will need to either win this season's Europa League or finish ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga standings.
Braga have also met a Spanish side in the quarter-final with a 5-3 aggregate victory over Real Betis to book their place in the last four for only the second time. In Liga Portugal, Braga are still in pole position to take the last European spot despite the weekend's defeat to Gonçalo Paciência's Santa Clara.
Braga have previously clashed with six Bundesliga clubs for a total of 13 games. Their five wins came against Hoffenheim and Union Berlin, while they were also on the losing end on five other occasions. Freiburg were in the same Europa League group with GD Estoril Praia 12 years ago, with both games ended in draws.
Patrick Osterhage is the only confirmed absentee for the visitors as Jordy Makengo will hope to be back after missing the game in Dortmund with a muscle injury. Schuster made few changes to the side since they are dealing with consistent midweek games.
PSG loanee Gabriel Moscardo is suspended for accumulated yellow cards. Braga's top-scorer Rodrigo Zalazar, central midfielder Florian Grillitsch, and defender Bright Arrey-Mbi have previous Bundesliga experiences.
Braga: Horniceck; Lagerbielke, Vitor Carvalho, Lelo; Gomez, Grillitsch, Gorby, Martinez; Zalazar, Horta; Victor
Freiburg: Atubolu; Makengo, Lienhart, Ginter, Treu; Eggestein, Manzambi; Grifo, Suzuki, Beste; Matanović