Europa League draw
Difficult lot for Stuttgart – Freiburg in luck
Updated on February 27, 2026 – 2:29 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The Swabians will face a big name in the round of 16 of the competition. Meanwhile, the SCF has a solvable task.
Bundesliga soccer team VfB Stuttgart continues its path in the Europa League in the round of 16 against FC Porto. This means that the DFB Cup winner got the potentially more difficult draw with a 50:50 chance between the two Portuguese representatives Braga and Porto. SC Freiburg will play against Belgian club KRC Genk for a place in the quarter-finals, according to the draw in Nyon, Switzerland.
In the first leg on March 12th, Stuttgart will initially play in their own stadium. The second leg in Porto will take place on March 18th or 19th.
The fact that the second duel could take place on the unusual Wednesday instead of the usual Thursday is because the Portuguese participants are not supposed to play their return games on the same day. Porto and Braga are only around 60 kilometers apart.
Porto is top of the Portuguese league, 20 points clear of fourth-placed Braga. Unlike SC Freiburg, VfB did not qualify directly for the round of 16 and prevailed in the second round with a 4-1 at Celtic Glasgow and a 0-1 in the second leg on Thursday evening in front of their own audience.
The Freiburgers initially play away and have home advantage in the decisive second leg. Possible quarter-final opponents for SC would be Celta Vigo from Spain or the French club Olympique Lyon. Stuttgart would face Nottingham Forest from England or FC Midtjylland from Denmark. A Bundesliga duel would only be possible in the final.
