A 1-0 first-leg loss in Turin puts Freiburg in a precarious situation heading into the return leg of their Europa League last-16 tie at the Europa-Park Stadion.
Freiburg should consider themselves lucky for going down to a single-goal margin at the Allianz Stadium, considering they faced 20 shots on goal while producing only one themselves. But they did well to recover last weekend, eking out a 2-1 home triumph over TSG Hoffenheim to stay relevant in the Bundesliga top-four race. Interestingly, the Germans have never lost the second leg of a major European knockout tie (W2, D2), turning around a 1-0 first-leg deficit once before! There’s more reason for optimism in Christian Streich’s camp. The Europa-Park Stadion has been a fortress this season, with Freiburg going unbeaten in 15 consecutive home games in all competitions (W11, D4) since a 3-1 league loss to Borussia Dortmund in August.
As for Juventus, the first-leg success in Italy should grant them safe passage into the quarter-finals, considering they’ve progressed from each of their last nine European knockout ties when winning the first leg. Massimiliano Allegri’s side rediscovered their scoring touch at the weekend, demolishing Serie A whipping boys Sampdoria 4-2 at home, making it five wins in their last six competitive outings (L1). The upcoming trip to Freiburg will only add to Juventus’ growing confidence, as they’ve suffered just one defeat in their nine previous European matches against German clubs (W5, D3), winning the last three in a row without conceding. Scoring first could prove crucial, given that Juve’s four most recent competitive away games have been won/lost ‘to nil’ (W3, L1).
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