Freiburg power into Europa League semis, Forest will meet Villa
Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa celebrates scoring his side's fourth goal during the UEFA Europa League quarter-final second leg soccer match between Aston Villa and Bologna FC at the Villa Park. Nick Potts/PA Wire/dpa A stunning volley from Igor Matanović and Yuito Suzuki's double marked Freiburg's surge into the Europa League semi-finals after the Germans defeated Celta Vigo 3-1 away and 6-1 on aggregate on Thursday. The Black Forest outfit were 3-0 up from last week's home leg but still went on the offensive in the quarter-final second leg in north-west Spain.
Freiburg coach Julian Schuster told UEFA: "I think over both matches it was a fantastic performance. We built on what we did last week. It wasn’t easy to play here, so it’s really special that we’ve reached the next round.
" The Germans easily sealed a semi-final meeting Portugal's Braga, who stunned Real Betis by coming back from 2-0 down to win 4-2 on the night in Seville and 5-3 overall. There will be an-all English semi-final between Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa on April 30 and May 7. Anderson tribute A goal from Morgan Gibbs-White sent Forest to the last four following a 1-0 win over Porto at the City Ground for a 2-1 aggregate progression.
While celebrating, the scorer held up a shirt of absent England midfielder Elliot Anderson, who missed the game due to his mother's death. Twice champions Porto were hamstrung by Jan Bednarek receiving an early red card for a studs-up tackle on the knee of Chris Wood, who could not continue. England World Cup hopeful Ollie Watkins sent Villa on their way to a 4-0 cruise over Bologna in Birmingham to go with their 3-1 triumph in Italy last Thursday.
Fantastic Freiburg Celta fans initially created a febrile atmosphere inside the three-sided Estadio Balaidos, but around 1,200 Freiburg supporters also made themselves heard in the early kick-off. The away section had even more to cheer when Croatia striker Matanović superbly latched on to Jordy Makengo's knock-down from 20 metres on 35 minutes. A rogue offside flag delayed the celebrations.
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