Freiburg marched into the Europa League semifinals by beating Celta Vigo 3-1 on Thursday.
The Bundesliga team reached the last four in a European competition for the first time on a 6-1 aggregate score after last week's 3-0 victory in the first leg of the quarterfinal.
Freiburg has scored 11 goals in its last three games in the second-tier competition.
Igor Matanović put Freiburg 1-0 up with a stunning left-footed volley from outside the area. Yuito Suzuki doubled the advantage with a deflected shot late in the first half and then beat goalkeeper Ionut Radu after interval.
Williot Swedberg’s consolation goal came in stoppage time for the Spanish hosts.
Freiburg’s next opponent will be either Real Betis or Braga; those teams play Thursday tied 1-1 from the first leg.
Later Thursday, Aston Villa enters the return leg of the quarterfinal against Bologna with a two-goal lead.
Villa won the opening leg 3-1 in Italy with Ollie Watkins netting twice on the way to the tean's eighth straight victory in the competition.
The English club is in a European quarterfinal for the third straight year and is on course to secure a Champions League spot next season while sitting fourth in the Premier League.
Bologna has won its last five away Europa matches since it lost to Villa in the opening game of the league phase.
The two also met in last year's Champions League with Villa winning 2-0.
Another Premier League club, Nottingham Forest, hosts Porto at the City Ground tied at 1-1.
In the third-tier Conference League, Crystal Palace defends a 3-0 lead at two-time runner-up Fiorentina. The winner will meet Ukraine’s Shakhtar, which advanced past AZ Alkmaar on Thursday.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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GoodCitizen said:
CA Is Burning said:
GoodCitizen said:
Just like Trump wrote 'Art of the Deal.' LOL.
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