SC Braga saw their European campaign come to an end on Thursday night, losing 3-1 away to SC Freiburg in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League semi-finals. The Portuguese side, who had won the first leg 2-1 at home under coach Carlos Vicens, were eliminated from the competition.
The match took an early turn for the worse for the visitors. In the 6th minute, Mario Dorgeles was shown a straight red card for a foul, leaving Braga with ten men for almost the entire game. Playing a man down, they struggled to cope with Freiburg’s pressure. Lukas Kübler opened the scoring in the 19th minute, and Johan Manzambi doubled the lead in the 41st minute. Kübler scored again early in the second half (72nd minute) to make it 3-0.
Braga managed to pull one back through Pau Víctor in the 79th minute, briefly reigniting hopes of a comeback. However, it was too little, too late, and the Portuguese side were eliminated from the Europa League.
This defeat means Braga have missed out on a spot in the Europa League final. The only time the club reached the final was in the 2010/11 season, when they eliminated Benfica in the semi-finals before losing to FC Porto in the decider. With Braga out, Portugal now has no representatives left in any UEFA competitions for the remainder of the season.
