Freiburg are through to their first European final after beating 10-man Braga in Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg.
Leading 2-1 from the first leg, the visitors were reduced to 10 men when Mario Dorgeles – scorer of Braga’s last-gasp winner in Portugal – was shown a straight red card for a professional foul on Jan-Niklas Beste.
Freiburg soon made their numerical advantage count, taking the lead on the night when Jean-Baptiste Gorby’s attempted clearance rebounded off Lukas Kubler’s knee before trickling over the line via the inside of the far post.
The opening goal may have been slightly fortuitous, but there was nothing lucky about Yohan Manzambi’s stunning second four minutes before half-time.
The 20-year-old midfielder worked space for a shot on the edge of the penalty area before curling an unstoppable right-footed drive into the far corner, sparking jubilant scenes among the home supporters at the Europa-Park Stadion.
Victor Gomez struck the woodwork after rounding Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu late in the first half, before Vincenzo Grifo was denied by the same post with a low drive early in the second.
Braga keeper Lukas Hornicek made a sensational double save to deny Igor Matanovic and Matthias Ginter with 20 minutes remaining, but the 23-year-old was powerless to prevent Kubler from extending Freiburg’s lead with a towering header.
Pau Victor’s close-range header gave the visitors hope seven minutes later, but there was to be no way back for Carlos Vicens’ side.
Julian Schuster’s side will face Aston Villa in the final in Istanbul on Wednesday, 20 May (20:00 BST) after Unai Emery’s side thrashed Nottingham Forest 4-0 in the second leg of their last-four encounter at Villa Park.
Thursday’s victory was Freiburg’s 11th home win in succession in the Europa League, equalling Sevilla’s all-time record set between April 2014 and March 2016.
