Freiburg are heading into the match on the back of a 3-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen in a German top-flight match, while the Azerbaijani outfit secured a narrow 1-0 win over Kapaz in their domestic league fixture.
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SC Freiburg will host Qarabag FK in their opening match of the 2022-23 Europa League campaign at the Europa Park stadium on Thursday night. The hosts earned a direct qualification to the group stages of Europe’s second tier club football competition, courtesy of securing a fifth-place finish in the Bundesliga last season. Qarabag, meanwhile, lost their UEFA Champions League playoff tie against Viktoria Plzen 2-1 on aggregate to settle for a place in the Group G of Europa League. Freiburg are heading into the match on the back of a 3-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen in a German top-flight match last Saturday, while the Azerbaijani outfit secured a narrow 1-0 win over Kapaz in their domestic league fixture last Thursday.
Welcome! ? @FKQarabagh pic.twitter.com/nq4TVQlzEt
— SC Freiburg (@scfreiburg) September 7, 2022
Freiburg have made an impressive start to their 2022-23 Bundesliga campaign, winning four of their opening five games to be sitting at the summit of the standings with 12 points. In their last match against Leverkusen, goals from Matthias Ginter, Michael Gregoritsch and Ritsu Doan helped the Bresigau-Brazilians secure all three points. With Nantes and Olympiacos the other sides in the group along with Qarabag, the German outfit would feel confident of making it to the knockout stages of a European competition for the first time since the 2001-02 season, when they were defeated by Feyenoord in the third round.
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Qarabag, on the other hand, have won their first four league games this term, to be sitting at the second spot in the Azerbaijan Premier League standings. The Horseman got the better of Kapaz in their last match at Seher stadionu courtesy of Tural Rzayev’s lone goal in the 50th-minute. Qarabag had previously reached the group stages of Champions league during the 2017-18 season and last term, the Horsemen managed to progress to the knockout rounds of Europa Conference League.
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Freiburg winger Roland Sallai is doubtful for Thursday’s game because of an eye injury he suffered during the Leverkusen win. Jeong Woo-Yeong is likely to come into the starting eleven. Petersen is expected to lead the line with Grifo and Doan in support. As for Qarabag, Kevin Medina is nursing a leg injury. Owusus could be the target-man up front with Kady Ozobic and Kady support.
Freiburg probable starting lineup: Flekken, Schmid, Ginter, Lienhart, Gunter, Hofler, Eggestein, Doan, Woo-yeong, Grifo, Petersen
Qarabag FK probable starting lineup: Mahammadaliyev, Vesovic, Mustafazada, Huseynov, Bayramov, Richard, Romao, Kady, Ozobic, Zoubir, Owusu
The UEFA Europa League match between Freiburg and Qarabag FK will take place at Europa Park stadium on Friday at 12:30 am IST.
| Freiburg vs Qarabag FK | Key details |
| Date | September 8 (Germany) |
| Venue | Europa Park stadium |
| Kickoff time in Germany | 9:00 pm (Thursday) |
| Kickoff time in Azerbaijan | 11:00 pm (Thursday) |
For the football fans in India, the live telecast of the UEFA Europa League is available on the Sony Ten network. You can also live stream through SonyLIV App/ website. Besides, the supporters in Germany can watch the match between Freiburg and Qarabag FK on RTL and RTL+ . Meanwhile, those in Azerbaijan can catch the live action via CBC Sport Azerbaijan.
