SC Freiburg took a major step towards the UEFA Europa League semi-finals with a 3–1 victory away to RC Celta de Vigo in their quarter-final first leg on Thursday, powered by a standout performance from Yuito Suzuki.
The Bundesliga side struck first on 33 minutes. Igor Matanovic finished off a well-worked move, converting after good service from Jordy Makengo to give Freiburg a 1–0 lead and silence the home crowd.
Freiburg doubled their advantage just six minutes later. Jan-Niklas Beste provided the assist as Yuito Suzuki found space and applied a clinical finish to make it 2–0 before half-time. Both Matanovic and Ilaix Moriba went into the book around the interval as tensions rose, with Celta struggling to gain a foothold.
Celta coach turned to his bench at the break, introducing Iago Aspas, Williot Swedberg, Sergio Carreira and Jones El-Abdellaoui in a triple wave of substitutions aimed at changing the momentum. However, Freiburg struck again on 50 minutes, Suzuki netting his second of the night from a Vincenzo Grifo assist to put the visitors 3–0 up and firmly in control of the tie.
The Spanish hosts continued to push and refreshed their midfield with Hugo Alvarez on 64 minutes, but Freiburg managed the game well, using further substitutions and disciplined defending despite yellow cards for Matthias Ginter and others.
Celta finally found a late lifeline in stoppage time. In the 90+1st minute, Swedberg pulled one back, finishing after being set up by Alvarez to reduce the deficit to 3–1 and keep the tie alive ahead of the return leg.
Beyond the goals, bookings and substitutions provided, detailed statistics and match events were not available at the time of writing. The second leg will decide who advances, with Freiburg holding a strong but not insurmountable aggregate lead.
Full match details: Celta vs Freiburg | UEFA Europa League
UEFA Europa League Standings
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | PTS | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Olympique Lyonnais
|
8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 21 | |
| 2 |
Aston Villa FC
|
8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 21 | L W W |
| 3 |
FC Midtjylland
|
8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 19 | |
| 4 |
Real Betis Balompié
|
8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 17 | L D |
| 5 |
FC Porto
|
8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 17 | L D |
| 6 |
Sporting Clube de Braga
|
8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 17 | W W D |
| 7 |
SC Freiburg
|
8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 17 | L W W |
| 8 |
AS Roma
|
8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 16 | |
| 9 |
KRC Genk
|
8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 16 | |
| 10 |
Bologna FC 1909
|
8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 15 | L L |
| 11 |
VfB Stuttgart
|
8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 15 | |
| 12 |
Ferencvárosi TC
|
8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 15 | |
| 13 |
Nottingham Forest FC
|
8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 14 | W W D |
| 14 |
FC Viktoria Plzeň
|
8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 14 | |
| 15 |
FK Crvena Zvezda
|
8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 14 | |
| 16 |
RC Celta de Vigo
|
8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 13 | L L |
| 17 |
PAOK Thessaloniki FC
|
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 12 | |
| 18 |
Lille OSC
|
8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 12 | |
| 19 |
Fenerbahçe SK
|
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 12 | |
| 20 |
Panathinaikos AO
|
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 12 | |
| 21 |
Celtic FC
|
8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 15 | -2 | 11 | |
| 22 |
PFK Ludogorets 1945 Razgrad
|
8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 15 | -3 | 10 | |
| 23 |
GNK Dinamo Zagreb
|
8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 16 | -4 | 10 | |
| 24 |
SK Brann
|
8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 11 | -2 | 9 | |
| 25 |
BSC Young Boys
|
8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 16 | -6 | 9 | |
| 26 |
SK Sturm Graz
|
8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 | -6 | 7 | |
| 27 |
FCSB Bukarest
|
8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 16 | -7 | 7 | |
| 28 |
Go Ahead Eagles
|
8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 14 | -8 | 7 | |
| 29 |
Feyenoord Rotterdam
|
8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 15 | -4 | 6 | |
| 30 |
FC Basel 1893
|
8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 13 | -4 | 6 | |
| 31 |
FC Red Bull Salzburg
|
8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 15 | -5 | 6 | |
| 32 |
Rangers FC
|
8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 14 | -9 | 4 | |
| 33 |
OGC Nice
|
8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 15 | -8 | 3 | |
| 34 |
FC Utrecht
|
8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 15 | -10 | 1 | |
| 35 |
Malmö FF
|
8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 15 | -11 | 1 | |
| 36 |
Maccabi Tel Aviv FC
|
8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 22 | -20 | 1 |
