Freiburg Sweep Aside Celta to Take Commanding Europa League Lead
SC Freiburg took a major step towards the UEFA Europa League semi-finals with a convincing 3–0 home victory over RC Celta de Vigo in their quarter-final first leg on 9 April 2026.
The Bundesliga side struck early. In the 10th minute, Vincenzo Grifo opened the scoring for Freiburg, finishing a move created by Johan Manzambi to give the hosts an ideal start.
Freiburg doubled their advantage just after the half-hour mark. Jan-Niklas Beste made it 2–0 in the 32nd minute, converting after good work from Igor Matanovic. The goal left Celta with a mountain to climb before the break, despite the visitors’ efforts to settle into the tie.
Celta head coach turned to his bench early in the second half, making a double change at the interval as Jones El-Abdellaoui replaced Williot Swedberg and Fer López came on for Javi Rodríguez. Further substitutions followed, including Matías Vecino, Pablo Duran and veteran forward Iago Aspas, as the visitors chased an away goal.
Freiburg, however, remained clinical. In the 78th minute, central defender Matthias Ginter added a third, pushing the aggregate score firmly in the German club’s favour. Beste was involved again, this time turning provider for the 3–0 strike.
The hosts also refreshed their side, with Derry Scherhant and Lucas Höler entering in the 74th minute and Lukas Kübler replacing Beste late on. Maximilian Eggestein received a yellow card in the 90th minute, the only booking recorded in the available data.
The result leaves Freiburg with a commanding three-goal cushion ahead of the second leg. Detailed statistics beyond goals, substitutions and bookings are not available in the current match data.
For more on the UEFA Europa League, visit the competition page, and see the full match overview here.
UEFA Europa League Standings
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | 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 |
