SC Freiburg vs Braga Predictions

• Braga won the first leg 2-1
• Freiburg are on a four-game winless run
• Braga have won at Real Betis and Celtic in Europe

Advantage Braga in semi-final battle

Portugal’s Braga head to Germany to face Freiburg in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday holding a slender 2-1 lead.

The winner of the tie will face either Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest in the final in Istanbul, and as big price underdogs Braga look worth the risk to finish this tie off in style with another win inside 90 minutes.

Freiburg’s form has taken a dip at the worst possible time as their draw with Wolfsburg over the weekend extended their winless run to four games. During that period, they have been knocked out of the DfB Pokal and have been hammered 4-0 at Dortmund.

Braga lost key forward Ricardo Horta to injury in the first leg, he is a major doubt for Thursday’s return fixture, but they still managed to win the game and they hold a deserved lead. On the balance of play, they could have had a bigger lead to defend at Europa-Park.

Braga solid on their travels

The Portuguese side have demonstrated they are capable of picking up wins on their travels in this competition this season as they won 4-2 at Real Betis in the previous round, after a draw in the first leg, and during the league phase they picked up eye-catching wins at Celtic and Nice.

Braga’s focus will be on defence but they have enough quality to hit Freiburg on the break and that could be crucial as they bid to book their final spot. With Freiburg out of form, the visitors have an opportunity to win this game outright rather than simply play for a draw.

Freiburg have enough quality in attack to keep things interesting, however, and are unlikely to draw a blank. The Breisgau-Brasilianer have a perfect home record in the Europa League and have scored in each of their last five home games across all competitions so they should get on the scoresheet.

Both teams have scored in five of Braga’s last six games overall and in their last three European ties so goals at both ends looks likely but the visitors can secure their spot in the final with a 2-1 success.

Rodrigo Zalazar missed a penalty in the first leg but can atone for that error with a goal in Germany. The Uruguayan had an assist at the weekend against Estoril and was used sparingly in that game so he should come into Thursday’s second leg fairly fresh and has seven goals in his last 10 games across all competitions.