Freiburg head coach Julian Schuster made it clear on Wednesday that his team will not be simply protecting their lead in Thursday’s clash against Celta at Balaídos. “My greatest wish is to reach the semifinals. We won’t speculate; we will try to be ourselves. I trust my players not to be intimidated by the atmosphere in the stadium,” the German coach stated in a press conference.
His side enters the second leg of the Europa League quarterfinals with a three-goal advantage, having dominated Celta at the Europa-Park Stadion. Despite the comfortable margin, Schuster cautioned against complacency, referencing Tuesday’s dramatic match at the Metropolitano, where Barcelona nearly overturned a 0-2 deficit from Atlético Madrid’s win at Camp Nou. “Anyone who watched that game realizes how quickly a tie can change,” he warned.
Schuster also confirmed that Swiss midfielder Johan Manzambi has recovered from the injury sustained against Mainz. “Johan trained normally this morning, and we can count on him if we decide to,” he said. The coach added that he has “one or two names” in mind for potential rotations but declined to reveal them.