Bundesliga Europa League representatives SC Freiburg are through to the 2025/26 UEL quarterfinals thanks to a 5-1 home victory over KRC Genk. A tepid performance in the away leg last week led to Julian Schuster’s men entering the encounter trailing 0-1 on aggregate. That deficit was erased thanks to Bundesliga legend Vincenzo Grifo, who became Freiburg’s all-time leading goal scorer at precisely the right time.
Vincenzo Grifo supplies the sizzle
Freiburg’s record breaking ‘club man’ donned the captain’s armband on the evening while regular skipper Christian Günter moved to the bench. It wasn’t long before the dapper German-Italian put the German hosts in the lead with some of his trademark set-piece artistry. Matthias Ginter polished off Grifo’s free-kick cross in the 19th-minute to put the hosts up 1-0. Genk nearly responded immediately one minute later, but SCF keeper Noah Atubolu kept the equalizer out with a brilliant save.
Matthias Ginter sets up the second
Last week’s GGFN Man-of-the-Match selection was once again hard at work in front of the hometown crowd. Ginter earned several rounds of applause from the Europa Park ultras for intrepid crunching tackles in the early going. In the 25th-minute, Ginter quickly recovered the ball after his teammate Philipp Treu failed to keep possession. The ball found its way back to Ginter via Maximilian Eggestein and Yuito Suzuki. Ginter headed a deflected shot from Suzuki over to Igor Matanovic for a strange, yet well-earned, 2-0.
Genk restores the aggregate tie
Suzuki nearly had a chance to put the Breisgauer hosts up 3-0 in the 38th-minute, but couldn’t quite contort his body to aim a shot properly as he fell. One minute after that, the Belgian guests pulled a goal back out of nowhere. Freiburg were caught ball watching as teenage Greek attacker Konstantinos Karetsas struck the post with an effort from the right. Karestas didn’t hesitate to chase down his own ricocheted rebound and deftly set up the 2-1 with a brilliant cut-back Matte Smets. Schuster’s men were a bit rattled thereafter, but didn’t concede another before the half was out.
Grifo officially breaks the club record
The goal that put Freiburg back on track for European advancement came from non other than the “club man”. Vincenzo Grifo’s 106th goal across all competitions for Freiburg could not have come at a better time. Interestingly enough, Grifo didn’t have to work for it at all. An absolute calamitous chain-of-errors at the back led to Smets directly passing the ball to Grifo in front of the empty net. The 32-year-old happily accepted the gift and gave his beloved Schwarzwaldverein a one-goal aggregate lead.
Yuito Suzuki breaks down the door
Shortly after Grifo’s momentous milestone goal, there stood practically nothing in the way of Freiburg and the Europa League quarterfinals. Suzuki demonstrated immense calm when receiving a Johan Manzambi ball in the box. Despite the fact that he was tightly marked by two Genk defenders, the Japanese international cooly slotted home a lovely finish that more than compensated for his awkward miss earlier. The Belgian guests – completely deflated – put up nothing after the Suzuki’s backbreaking tally.
Suzuki added an assist on Maximilian Eggestein’s 5-1 ten minutes from time.
Freiburg Player Ratings
Noah Atubolu (8) – Jordy Makengo (5), Bruno Ogbus (7), Matthias Ginter (8), Philipp Treu (4) – Johan Manzambi (6), Maximilian Eggestein (7) – Vincenzo Grifo (9), Yuito Suzuki (8), Jan-Niklas Beste (4) – Igor Matanovic (6)
Substitutes: Lucas Höler (4), Patrick Osterhage (5), Derry Scherhant (6), Philipp Lienhart (-), Lukas Kübler (-)
GGFN Bundesliga Player of the Match: Vincenzo Grifo (9)
Despite excellent play from several other professionals, it simply has to be the “famous Pforzheimer” who earns the MOTM award this time. Grifo immediately gave his team the confidence they needed with his early assist, then lifted the Bundesliga representatives by restoring the aggregate lead at precisely the right moment. Defender Ginter, attacker Suzuki, and even keeper Atubolu all made equally important contributions and, as such, earn (8) level marks.
Statistically speaking, Grifo actually picked up only 46 touches and wasn’t even that big a factor in the game. Is it likely that anyone in the raucous Europa Park Stadion cared? Not a chance. The author doesn’t care either. Having mentioned all the other important performers above, and accorded (7) level marks to Eggestein and Bruno Ogbus as well, this is simply a night to celebrate one of the Bundesliga’s all time greats!
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