Freiburg books Europa League final place
Lukas Kubler scored the decisive goal as Freiburg earned a 3-1 win over 10-man Braga in the Europa League semi-final second leg, to reach the final with a 4-3 aggregate victory.
Having trailed 2-1 from the first leg, Freiburg took advantage of Mario Dorgeles's early red card to turn the tie around, before holding off a late Braga fightback.
Dorgeles, who was the hero last week with a 92nd-minute winner, was on the Europa-Park Stadion pitch for just six minutes when he clumsily brought down Niklas Beste as the last man, resulting in a straight red.
Braga attempted to add to its tally despite its numerical disadvantage, but Kubler scored in the 19th minute as Demir Ege Tiknaz's attempted clearance bounced in off his knee.
The visitor then gave Johan Manzambi too much space outside the box; he cut inside from the left and curled a stunning finish into the top-right corner to double Freiburg's lead.
On the stroke of half-time, Victor Gomez struck the post as Braga sought a goal, and Rodrigo Zalazar could only hit a covering defender on the rebound, with Noah Atubolu caught off his line.
Vincenzo Grifo also hit the woodwork shortly after the break, while Lukas Hornicek made a superb double save to keep out Beste and Igor Matanovic in quick succession, but Kubler got his second 72 minutes in to make sure of the victory, nodding in Philipp Treu's free-kick.
Pau Victor set up a nervy ending with a 79th-minute close-range header, but an Atubolu save to deny Gabri Martinez in the sixth minute of stoppage time was the moment Freiburg booked its place in the final against Aston Villa.
