World Cup winner Matthias Ginter has helped guide Freiburg into the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals for the first time. - © IMAGO/Grant Hubbs

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Freiburg vs. Celta Vigo: UEFA Europa League quarter-final LIVE blog and team news

06.04.2026

Freiburg play their first-ever European quarter-final as they host Celta Vigo in Thursday’s UEFA Europa League first leg (kick-off: 9pm CEST).

Freiburg overcame Genk 5-2 on aggregate thanks to a five-star second leg in their round of 16 tie, making history by reaching the last eight of a continental competition for the first time.

Julian Schuster’s side finished seventh in the league phase, boasting a record of five wins, two draws and a single defeat over the eight games, in which Noah Atubolu kept four clean sheets.

They and Bayern Munich are the only German teams still competing in three competitions - including the DFB Cup semi-finals - while the Black Forest club are also still in contention to qualify for Europe via the Bundesliga with six games to go.

Celta saw off Lyon 3-1 on aggregate in the round of 16, having come through the play-offs by beating PAOK by the same scoreline. The northern Spanish club finished 16th in the league phase, with four wins, one draw and three defeats from their eight games.

Os Celestes are also well placed domestically, having recovered from a start that saw them fail to win any of their opening nine La Liga fixtures - a run which included seven 1-1 draws.

Follow the first leg below!

Freiburg

Thu, 09.04 19:00

Vigo

Europa League
Quarter-finals, first leg Quarter-finals, first leg Europa-Park Stadion

Grifo gets goals

The ever-dependable Vincenzo Grifo was on the scoresheet in Freiburg's thumping 5-1 second-leg win over Genk in the previous round. His third goal in the current UEFA Europa League makes him his club's top scorer.

Clash of extremes

Freiburg have conceded the joint fewest goals in this season's UEFA Europa League (six), while Celta Vigo have scored the joint most in the competition (21).

Early Celta Vigo team news

Right-back Javi Rueda (pictured), who scored the opening goal of Celta's crucial 2-0 win in Lyon in the last round, is suspended for Thursday night's clash while young midfielder Miguel Román carried the sole injury issue at the start of the week with a long-term foot problem.

Early Freiburg team news

Jordy Makengo and Patrick Osterhage were added to Freiburg's injury list before the defeat against Bayern Munich on Saturday, while striker Lucas Höler came off with a thigh complaint. On the other hand, the club's top scorer in the Bundesliga, Igor Matanović (pictured), is likely to be ready to start against Celta Vigo after being rested following his travel to the USA with Croatia during the international break.

Celta Vigo win ahead of UEL match-up

The Spanish outfit fought back from a goal down to secure a 3-2 win in Valencia with Ilaix Moriba, Fer López and Williot Swedberg finding the net to extend Vigo's unbeaten run away from home to eight games (four wins, four draws) across all competitions.

1:07

Freiburg 2-3 Bayern Munich - highlights

Johan Manzambi and Lucas Höler fired Freiburg into a 2-0 lead against Germany's record champions, who responded late on with a brace from Tom Bischof before Lennart Karl's late stoppage-time winner inflicted an 11th Bundesliga defeat of the season on the Black Forest club.

Room for improvement

Celta have lost their last three European games against German opposition, including a 2-1 reverse at VfB Stuttgart in this season's Europa League league phase. They triumphed 2-1 on aggregate against VfB in the fourth round of the 2000/01 UEFA Cup but were no match for Werder Bremen in 2006/07, losing 3-0 on aggregate in the last 16 of the competition.

We meet at last!

This is the first-ever meeting between Freiburg and Celta in UEFA competition. The Black Forest club's only previous encounters with Spanish opposition came back in 2013/14, when they were twice beaten 2-0 by Sevilla in the Europa League group stage.

Impressive European form

Celta are unbeaten in their last six Europa League matches (W4 D2). This is their fifth quarter‑final appearance in the competition but their first since 2016/17, when they defeated Belgian club Genk 4-3 on aggregate to set up a semi-final with eventual tournament winners Manchester United.

Ten home wins in a row?

European quarter‑final debutants Freiburg have lost only two of their last ten UEFA matches, winning six and drawing the other two. Victory over Celta would be their tenth consecutive continental win in front of their own supporters.

Hello and welcome!

Welcome along and thanks for joining us for build-up and live coverage of this UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg between Freiburg and Celta Vigo.