SC Freiburg extended their remarkable home run in the UEFA Europa League, claiming a 10th consecutive victory with a commanding 3-0 win over Celta Vigo at the Europa-Park Stadion. The result puts them firmly in control of the quarter-final tie heading into next week’s second leg.

Fresh from reaching the quarter-finals of a UEFA competition for the first time in their history—after a 5-2 aggregate triumph over Genk—Freiburg came into the match determined to bounce back from a heartbreaking Bundesliga defeat to Bayern Munich, where they conceded twice in stoppage time. That intent was clear from the outset, as they dominated proceedings against their Spanish opponents in the opening half.

Igor Matanović nearly opened the scoring inside two minutes but headed over the bar, while Maximilian Eggestein soon tested Ionuț Radu with a powerful strike that the goalkeeper managed to hold.

Freiburg’s early pressure paid off in the 10th minute through club icon Vincenzo Grifo. The forward, who recently became Freiburg’s all-time leading goalscorer, once again showed his quality by curling a superb effort into the bottom corner from outside the box to give the hosts a deserved lead.

In response, Celta Vigo enjoyed spells of possession but failed to turn it into anything meaningful, and SC Freiburg punished that lack of cutting edge shortly after the half-hour mark. Igor Matanović, played through by Philipp Treu from a tight angle, showed great composure to square the ball instead of shooting, allowing Jan-Niklas Beste a simple tap-in from close range.

Freiburg could have gone into the break with an even bigger advantage, but Johan Manzambi was denied by the post after seeing his effort strike the upright.

After the restart, Freiburg remained the more threatening side, although clear-cut chances became harder to come by. Vincenzo Grifo tried his luck from distance, but his low effort was comfortably gathered by Ionuț Radu.

Coming into this round as the competition’s top scorers, Celta were surprisingly blunt in attack, completely neutralised by Freiburg’s disciplined defence. They failed to register a single shot on target across the 90 minutes, with Fer López’s effort that drifted just wide being their closest attempt.

Freiburg eventually added a third goal with under 15 minutes to play, as Matthias Ginter rose highest to head home from a corner and seal a dominant performance.

The result leaves Freiburg firmly on track to reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League, adding to their strong cup run this season after already booking a place in the last four of the DFB-Pokal.

Meanwhile, Celta saw their nine-match unbeaten away run come to an end and will need a much-improved display back in Spain if they are to keep alive their hopes of reaching the Europa League semi-finals.