For the second season in a row, Freiburg have kept their sights set high in both the Bundesliga and the Europa League. Last year's campaign of the generally modest German club in the second European tournament ended with a clash with Juventus and a relegation. Straich's team started the current season in the Europa League in the same group as West Ham United, Bacca Topola and Olympiacos. The German club suffered two defeats against the London rival, but beat the other opponents in all four meetings. Lance spent last season better than any other in more than twenty years. The original and stable football brought the team to the final second place of Ligue 1. This result allowed Lance to participate in the Champions League, where it competed with Arsenal, PSV and Sevilla. In the elite of European football, the club performed quite well, but lost the playoffs to representatives of the Netherlands and England. Last Thursday's match between Freiburg and Lance was the only Europa League play-off that ended without a goal. To the credit of the German team, it created more chances, but failed to realise them. Bookmakers have identified the home team as the favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 2.32 on their victory.

Freiburg played the first half of the season at a normal level. Streich's team crashed out of the German Cup in the 1/16 finals, but had quite a decent few months in the Europa League and Bundesliga. However, the start of 2024 is off to a very tough start for Freiburg. Last Sunday, the team was saved from a fourth consecutive defeat in the championship by Gregoric's goal against Eintracht in the 90th minute. Such results fixed Freiburg on the eighth position in the Bundesliga standings with rather dim prospects. Two full days after receiving Lance, Straich's charges go to visit Augsburg, who in January and February wrecked all the nerves of Bayer, Bayern and Leipzig.

Lance, unlike the opponent, has a positive season dynamics and is climbing up the Ligue 1 standings. On Sunday, the team did not win for the first time in the last four rounds. In such a game form, the team may well fight for a positive result in Germany.