Freiburg vs Celta Europa League quarter-final preview: Where to watch, predicted line-ups, team news

Celta are set to travel to Freiburg for the first leg of their UEFA Europa League quarter-final tie.

Where to watch the game on TV

Fans can find their local UEFA Europa League broadcast partner(s) here.

What you need to know?

Four-time winners of Germany's second tier, and losing German Cup finalists in 2021/22, Freiburg are enjoying their best European campaign, after making it through the Europa League round of 16 at the third attempt. The Breisgau side lost 2-0 home and away to Sevilla in the 2013/14 group stage in their only previous encounters with Spanish teams, but Julian Schuster's charges are on a run of nine straight European home wins and have earned the right to dream.

Claudio Giráldez's Celta have a few more kilometres on their European clock than Freiburg, but have been absent from continental competition since they reached a club pinnacle by reaching their first major European semi-final, narrowly missing out against Manchester United in the 2016/17 Europa League. They have yet to win in three UEFA games in Germany (D1 L2, including a 2-1 loss at Stuttgart in this season's league phase), but showed their strength on the road in a 2-0 win at Lyon in their round of 16 decider.

Possible line-ups

Freiburg: Atubolu; Treu, Ginter, Lienhart, Makengo; Eggestein, Manzambi; Beste, Suzuki, Grifo; Matanović

Celta: Radu; Javi Rodríguez, Aidoo, Alonso; Mingueza, Hugo Sotelo, Moriba, Carreira; Jutglà, Borja Iglesias, Swedberg

Form guide

Freiburg

Form: LWWLLD (most recent game first)
Latest: Freiburg 2-3 Bayern, 04/04, German Bundesliga

Celta

Form: WLWDDL
Latest: Valencia 2-3 Celta, 05/04, Spanish Liga

Views from the camps

Julian Schuster, Freiburg coach: "The players' energy needs to carry over to the stands. We've been talking a lot about Saturday [a dramatic loss against Bayern]. But this week started from zero. This is a different game. It could unfold in a different way. It's absolutely crucial to feel that support from the fans. We're motivated to put ourselves in a good position for the second leg."

Lucas Höler, Freiburg forward: "I'm absolutely convinced that we can put in another strong performance. It's a real highlight of the season and we want to lay the foundation for advancing right here at home. I think Celta are a classic Spanish team that like to control the ball. But the focus is clearly on us. We've shown that we can compete with any opponents here."

Claudio Giráldez, Celta coach: "In terms of club structure and level, I think Freiburg are similar to us, in similar positions in the standings and with a similar level of success in their domestic league in recent years. They swept aside Genk after a very good league phase. We know how to hurt them and how they can hurt us. I think the players, despite the short time, have understood the message."

Reporter's view

Judith Tuffentsammer, match reporter
A 5-1 home win against Genk took Freiburg through to their first European quarter-final, and they will be hoping there are more milestones to come this season. Motivation is high, but up against formidable opponents in Celta, they will need to bring their 'A' game. Celta are back in the Europa League for the first time since reaching the 2016/17 semi-finals, and are making their second trip to Germany this season, after a narrow Matchday 1 defeat against Stuttgart (whose home city is around 200km from Freiburg). They also showed they mean business by defeating Lyon away from home last time out.