Freiburg vs Olympiacos facts

Freiburg are back at home on Matchday 5 in UEFA Europa League Group A knowing if they avoid defeat against Olympiacos they will qualify for the knockout stages of the competition for the second season running.

Christian Streich's side earned a record 5-0 home win against Serbia's TSC Bačka Topola last time out, goals from Merlin Röhl (24), Maximililian Eggestein (56), Noah Weißhaupt (69), Junior Adamu (80) and Ritsu Doan (90+2) sealing Freiburg's biggest ever European victory.

Olympiacos, who know only a win in Germany will keep their hopes alive, lost 1-0 at West Ham on Matchday 4 to leave them in third place on four points, five behind both the Hammers and their German hosts.

The Greek side lost 3-2 at home to Freiburg on Matchday 1 before a 2-2 draw away at TSC and a 2-1 home win against West Ham on Matchday 3.

Freiburg are second in the group, level on nine points with West Ham having followed up their opening-day victory against Olympiacos with a 2-1 home defeat by West Ham and a 3-1 away win against TSC on Matchday 3 prior to that record result last time out.

Previous meetings

Freiburg wins 2
Olympiacos wins 0
Draws 1
Freiburg goals 7
Olympiacos goals 3

The clubs were drawn together in Group G last season in what were their first ever meetings.

Freiburg turned on the style in Piraeus in Matchday 2, coming away with a 3-0 victory thanks to a goal after five minutes by Nicolas Höfler and a double from Austrian international Michael Gregoritsch (25, 52).

Olympiacos nearly exacted revenge on their German counterparts on Matchday 5 but after taking the lead on 17 minutes through Youssef El-Arabi, they conceded an equaliser to Lukas Kübler three minutes into added time.

They met again on Matchday 1 of this campaign, the German side coming out on top in a 3-2 victory in Greece.

Roland Sallai opened the scoring after nine minutes, only to be pegged back five minutes before half-time thanks to a goal from Ayoub El Kaabi. A Vincenzo Grifo penalty deep into first-half added time meant Freiburg went into the break ahead, before El Kaabi again equalised for the home side in the 75th minute. However, an 86th-minute goal from Maximilian Philipp gave the away side a winning start to this season's campaign.

Form guide

Freiburg

Record vs Greek clubs: W2 D1 L0 F7 A3
Home record vs Greek clubs: W0 D1 L0

Freiburg's only previous meetings with Greek clubs are their three matches against Olympiacos.

The Breisgau Brazilians are in the Europa League group stage for the third time and have qualified for European football in consecutive seasons for the first time in the club's history.

The German side remained undefeated in last season's group stage with a record of W4 D2, scoring 13 goals and conceding just three on their way to topping a group containing Qarabağ, Olympiacos and Nantes.

They progressed straight to the round of 16 to face Juventus and went down 1-0 away and 2-0 at home.

Streich's side finished fifth in the 2022/23 Bundesliga, Freiburg's highest league finish in ten years.

The German club's only other Europa League group stage appearance came in 2013/14 when they won just one of their six matches (D3 L2), finishing third in their section. In 2017/18 they took part in the third qualifying round after finishing seventh in the Bundesliga but were knocked out by Slovenian side Domžale (1-0 h, 0-2 a).

Freiburg have lost two of their last three home European games (W1) having won three of their previous four (D1).

Olympiacos

Record vs German clubs: W5 D1 L16 F29 A46
Away record vs German clubs: W1 D1 L8

The 1-1 draw against Freiburg last season ended Olympiacos's run of five straight defeats in Germany in which they conceded 11 goals and scored just one. Home and away, the draw in Freiburg ended a run of ten losses against Bundesliga teams.

This is the third season in a row that the Greek side have faced German opposition in the Europa League group stage; they lost home and away to eventual champions Eintracht Frankfurt in 2021/22 (1-3 a, 1-2 h).

They are taking part in their fifth Europa League group stage, and a third in a row. Last season was the first time Olympiacos had failed to qualify from their section.

A third-place finish in the 2022/23 Greek Super League ended a run of three straight titles for the Piraeus-based club, before Europa League qualifying victories against Genk (1-0 h, 1-1 a) and Čukarički (3-1 h, 3-0 a) took them into the group stage.

Olympiacos have drawn seven of their last ten European away games (W1 L2), this season's victory at Cukarički ending a ten-game winless run on the road (D6 L4).

Links and trivia

Have played in Germany:
Panagiotis Retsos (Bayer Leverkusen 2017–22)
Kostas Fortounis (Kaiserslautern 2011–14)
Stevan Jovetić (Hertha Berlin 2021–23)
Omar Richards (Bayern München 2021/22)

Sallai scored in Hungary's 2-1 UEFA Nations League win against Greece on 11 September 2018.

Sallai was also on target in Hungary's 2-1 Nations League victory against Greece on 20 September 2022.