Freiburg booked their place in the UEFA Europa League final after defeating 10-man Braga 3-1 on Thursday night to seal a dramatic 4-3 aggregate triumph, with Lukas Kuebler scoring twice to inspire the German side to their first-ever European final.
The Bundesliga club, still chasing the first major trophy in their history, will face Aston Villa in Istanbul on May 20 after the Premier League side eliminated Nottingham Forest in the other semi-final.
Braga’s hopes suffered an early setback when Mario Dorgeles was sent off in the seventh minute.
Jan-Niklas Beste had broken clear after beating the offside trap before Dorgeles brought him down, leaving the referee with little choice but to issue a straight red card.
Freiburg capitalised on their numerical advantage in the 19th minute in fortunate fashion. An attempted Braga clearance struck Kuebler and looped into the net via the post to hand the hosts the lead.
The German side continued to dominate and doubled their advantage four minutes before halftime. Johan Manzambi found space well outside the area and unleashed a curling strike that flew beyond goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek into the far corner.
Despite being a man down, Braga nearly restored parity in the tie just before the break. Victor Gomez rounded goalkeeper Noah Atubolu, but his effort crashed against the post before Rodrigo Zalazar’s follow-up attempt was brilliantly blocked by defender Philipp Lienhart.
Freiburg maintained their attacking intensity after the restart, with Manzambi forcing Hornicek into a diving save as the hosts searched for another goal to kill off the contest.
That decisive moment appeared to arrive in the 72nd minute when Vincenzo Grifo delivered a free-kick into the penalty area and Kuebler powered a header into the far corner for his second goal of the night.
Braga refused to surrender, however, and set up a tense finale when Pau Victor headed home from close range with 11 minutes remaining.
The Portuguese side pushed relentlessly in the closing stages, but Atubolu produced a crucial late stop to deny Gabri Martinez and preserve Freiburg’s aggregate advantage.
At the final whistle, jubilant Freiburg supporters celebrated wildly as security struggled to prevent fans from spilling onto the pitch after a historic night for the German club.
