Standing in our way tonight is the German side SC Freiburg who are without any major honours in their 122 year history. The Black Forest club has performed wonders ahead of much fancier teams in the competition to get to the Final under head coach Julian Schuster. This is how they made it to Istanbul.
League Stage
Freiburg 2-1 Basel (24/09/25)
Goals from Osterhage and Eggestein gave them the perfect start. Otele scored a late goal for Basel but Freiburg held on.
Bologna 1-1 Freiburg (02/10/25)
Orsolini gave Bologna the lead but Freiburg got a draw thanks to a penalty from Adamu.
Freiburg 2-0 Utrecht (23/10/25)
Next up was Dutch side Utrecht. Goals from Suzuki and Grifo gave Freiburg a comfortable 2-0 win.
Nice 1-3 Freiburg (06/11/25)
Kevin Carlos gave French side Nice the advantage before the German side hit back with style. Three quick fire goals from Manzambi, Grifo and Scherhant gave them their first win on the road in the competition.
Viktoria Plzen 0-0 Freiburg (27/11/25)
Another useful result for Black Forest side, a goalless draw in Czechia.
Freiburg 1-0 RB Salzburg (11/12/25)
In their last Europa League game of 2025, Lienhart got the winner against 10 men.
Freiburg 1-0 Maccabi-Tel Aviv (22/01/26)
Another priceless home win, sealed by a goal from Matanovic.
Lille 1-0 Freiburg (29/01/26)
A first for Freiburg defeat in the Europa League with Giroud scoring in injury time. It was still a strong league campaign from Freiburg, finishing 7th with 17 points and a straight passage to the last 16.
Last 16
Genk 1-0 Freiburg (12/03/26)
In a tight game, El Ouahdi gave the Belgian side a slight advantage.
Freiburg 5-1 Genk (19/03/26) 5-2 Agg
Goals from Ginter and Matanovic put Freiburg ahead before Smets levelled it on aggregate at the break. Freiburg were not to be denied and goals from Grifo, Suzuki and Eggestein completed a comfortable win on the night, and on aggregate.
Quarter-Finals
Freiburg 3-0 Celta Vigo (09/04/26)
Another strong performance at home and goals from Grifo, Beste and Ginter put them in full control.
Celta Vigo 1-3 Freiburg (16/04/26) 1-6 Agg
Freiburg were superb and a double from Suzuki to add to Matanovic’s earlier strike gave them a 6-0 advantage until Celta got one right at the end through Swedberg.
Semi-Finals
Braga 2-1 Freiburg (30/04/26)
In their first ever Semi-Final, Freiburg travelled to Portugal for the first leg. Grifo levelled things up from Braga’s opener through Demir Ege Tiknar. Braga got a late winner at the end through Dorgeles.
Freiburg 3-1 Braga (07/05/26) 4-3 Agg
Another big performance at home was needed. Dorgeles was sent off for Braga and Freiburg made the extra man count. A double from Kubler and a goal from Manzambi put them 3-0 up. Pau Victor gave Brag hope but Freiburg made it to their first ever European Final.
It was lovely to see the pictures of Villa fans and Freiburg supporters having friendly beers together in Istanbul on social media. Let’s hope for a good game tonight.
What a journey Freiburg have been on to get to a final for their first trophy! However, let’s make them wait a little bit longer.