Ginter and history-maker Grifo send five-star Freiburg to first quarter-final | OneFootball

Freiburg overturned their deficit against Genk in the Europa League with a 5-1 victory in the second-leg of the Round of 16 tie. After defeats in a similar stage in Christian Streich’s last two seasons at the club, Julian Schuster’s side wrote history as Freiburg will contest a European quarter-final tie for the very first time.

Freiburg were dominant in the early exchanges, but Genk managed to limit them to chances from set-pieces. Matthias Ginter was able to capitalize on Vincenzo Grifo’s corner-kick to put them level in the tie.

The center-back last scored in this competition when Borussia Dortmund reached the quarter-final a decade ago. Genk nearly found the equalizer immediately when Noah Atubolu had to make his first save of the night from Aaron Bibout’s header with a stretched arm.

Before the half-hour mark, Ginter added an assist to his third goal in four games at the Europa-Park Stadion (Stadion am Wolfswinkel). The 32-year-old guided his header to the unmarked Igor Matanović after Yuito Suzuki’s deflected shot. The Croat ended his mini-goal drought with a simple finish as Freiburg led in the tie for the first time.

Suzuki missed a great chance that could’ve extended their lead before Genk’s resurgence. Konstantinos Karetsas brought life to the visitors with an impressive play on the right flank.

The 18-year-old’s first-time hit was denied by the post, but he had the awareness to brilliantly set up Matte Smets’ first career goal on the rebound. Ken Nkuba, who came in place of the suspended Zakaria El Ouahdi, had the next chance before the hosts ended the half positively.

Freiburg’s first-half goals came within six minutes, and they repeated that trick inside the first ten minutes after the restart. First, Grifo scored his 106th goal for the club by capitalizing on a miscommunication between Smets and Tobias Lawal.

The former Italian international is now the outright top-scorer for Freiburg as he beat Nils Petersen’s record. Four minutes later, Suzuki sealed the victory with a goal his performance thoroughly deserved.

The Japanese international started a counterattack from Genk’s weak corner-kick as he beat Lawal with an emphatic finish following a one-two with Johan Manzambi. That ended Genk’s European hopes with Freiburg playing free-flowing football for the rest of the half.

Maximilian Eggestein took over the captain’s armband after Grifo’s substitution, and he added the fourth ten minutes before time. Suzuki played a huge role once again as he provided the assist for the unmarked central midfielder, who missed last week’s game due to suspension.

Freiburg will face Celta Vigo in their first-ever European quarter-final appearance. The LaLiga outfit knocked out Olympique Lyonnais in France following an early red card for former Mainz defender Moussa Niakhaté.