Freiburg Rout Celta Vigo in Europa League Quarter-Final First Leg
Freiburg took a giant stride towards the Europa League semi-finals with a commanding 3-0 first-leg victory over Celta Vigo at the Europa-Park Stadion. Goals from Vincenzo Grifo, Jan-Niklas Beste and Matthias Ginter gave the Bundesliga side a commanding advantage to take to Spain next week.
From the first whistle, Freiburg asserted their dominance on home turf, continuing their perfect European record at their home ground this season. Vincenzo Grifo, the former Italian international, opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a sublime strike from the edge of the box, marking his tenth Europa League goal. The goal settled the hosts, who had suffered consecutive injury-time defeats in the Bundesliga, but have been formidable in European competition.
Freiburg's control was rewarded with a second goal on the hour mark, the result of a slick team move. A well-worked play down the right flank between Philipp Lienhart and Igor Matanovic culminated in a simple tap-in for Jan-Niklas Beste, who scored his first European goal. The German side continued to press, with Johan Monza hitting the post before halftime.
After the break, Celta Vigo manager Claudio Giráldez made attacking changes, but his side failed to register a single shot on target throughout the entire match. Freiburg, expertly managing the game, sealed the victory fifteen minutes from time. Matthias Ginter, whose error cost Freiburg a late equalizer against Bayern Munich at the weekend, rose highest to power in a header from a Beste corner, atoning for his previous mistake and putting the tie firmly in Freiburg's hands.
The 3-0 result, a repeat of their first-leg scoreline against Genk in the previous round, gives Freiburg a formidable lead. Celta Vigo, who failed to trouble the Freiburg goal, face a monumental task in the second leg at the Estadio de Balaídos. Freiburg will travel to Mainz in the Bundesliga this weekend before the decisive second leg, while Celta Vigo will host bottom side Real Oviedo in La Liga.
