Freiburg eased into the semi-finals of the Europa League with an eye-catching 3-1 away victory over Celta Vigo, eliminating the Spanish side 6-1 on aggregate.
Julian Schuster’s side already had one foot in the final four after their big win at Europa-Park-Stadion last week, and they quickly put the tie beyond all doubt in Galicia.
Igor Matanovic put them 4-0 up on aggregate just past the half-hour mark on Thursday, lashing an incredible volley past Ionut Radu from outside the area following Jordy Makengo’s intelligent knock-down. The assister was initially ruled to be offside in the build-up, only for the goal to be awarded following a VAR review.
And it was 2-0 in the 39th minute, with Yuito Suzuki sweeping into the bottom-right corner following a good interchange with Niklas Beste in the left channel.
A third Freiburg goal arrived five minutes into the second half, with Suzuki scoring on the rebound after Makengo failed to apply the finishing touch following a marauding run down the right flank, which saw him outmuscle Fer Lopez and round goalkeeper Radu.
Lopez and Jones El Abdellaoui had opportunities to reduce the arrears, and Celta finally got a goal back through Williot Swedberg’s stoppage-time finish on the slide, but it mattered little.
Data Debrief: Freiburg scale new heights
Freiburg are now into their first-ever semi-final in a major European competition, with either Braga or Real Betis awaiting them in the next round.
Before this season, they had never gone past the last 16 of the Europa League, having reached that stage in back-to-back campaigns in 2022-23 and 2023-24, losing to Juventus and West Ham respectively.
Freiburg had to soak up some pressure, with Celta having more shots (15 to nine) and more expected goals (1.63 xG to 1.07) in the second leg, but their devastating counter-attacks did the trick.
In the last 12 European matches where a Spanish team has hosted a German side, the only two instances of the Bundesliga team emerging victorious have been this month, with this game following on from Bayern Munich’s Champions League victory at Real Madrid.
