Freiburg defeat Motherwell 7-2 on aggregate to book Conference League spot | OneFootball

SC Freiburg have qualified for the league phase of the Europa Conference League after a 7-2 aggregate win over Scottish Premiership side Motherwell FC. Last season’s Europa League finalists are yet to qualify for the Champions League, but this will now be their fourth continental campaign in five years.

Freiburg took an early lead as Derry Scherhant beat Alex Paulsen from close range after Maximilian Eggestein’s excellent through ball. Mio Backhaus gave Motherwell a lifeline when his howler helped Emmanuel Longelo to level the score on the night.

Noah Atubolu’s replacement was able to deny Sebastian Palmer-Houlden with the visitors’ only other chance in the first-half. Similar to last week, Yuito Suzuki was one of the standout performers for Freiburg as he created several chances after Motherwell’s goal.

In his first start of the season, Cyriaque Irie came close to restoring the lead for Julian Schuster’s side in the last action of the half, but his powerful hit ricocheted off the crossbar.

Motherwell played the last 25 minutes with ten after Martin Moormann’s red card last week, and it happened again a bit earlier in the second-half. Australian defender Jake Girdwood-Reich was sent off for a last-man challenge on Scherhant.

Paulsen denied Scherhant from the resulting free-kick, but the 23-year-old winger managed two assists from corner-kicks in the next five minutes. Igor Matanović was the first to score before Irie got his maiden Freiburg goal in the 63rd minute.

With a 6-2 aggregate lead, Schuster was able to rest Suzuki, Matanović, Scherhant and Matthias Ginter for Sunday’s Bundesliga opener against Werder Bremen. In the space of a few seconds, Motherwell were saved twice by the woodwork before more clear-cut chances for substitute Vincenzo Grifo and Irie.

Keisuke Goto scored seconds before the final whistle last week, and the Japanese new signing did it again with a brilliant finish five minutes before time. The 21-year-old also scored on his Europa League debut for Anderlecht against Hoffenheim in the 2024/25 season. Irie had one last chance before the end of the tie as he missed the target from close range after Grifo’s iconic delivery.

Freiburg will be in tomorrow’s league phase draw for the Conference League. Similarly, Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen will discover their Europa League opponents. Earlier on Thursday, FC Bayern, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and VfB Stuttgart found out their Champions League matchups.