Freiburg roar in Europa League with 5-1 second-leg reply to Genk
SC Freiburg overturned a first-leg deficit to beat Genk 5-1 in the europa league second leg on Thursday at Europa-Park Stadion, shifting the tie’s momentum. The hosts answered a 1-0 reverse from the first leg with a dominant second-half display that produced a flurry of chances and decisive finishes. Freiburg’s result matters in the fight for a place in the quarter-finals and comes amid concerns over their domestic form.
Europa League: second-leg facts and key moments
Second Half ends, SC Freiburg 5, Genk 1. The match saw a sustained attacking sequence from Freiburg: Lucas Höler missed a right-footed shot from the left side of the six-yard box after a corner; Philipp Lienhart headed from the right side of the six-yard box and missed to the left; Bruno Ogbus had a right-footed effort blocked in the centre of the box following an assist from Yuito Suzuki; Derry Scherhant’s left-footed shot was saved by Tobias Lawal; Junya Ito had an attempt blocked and Robin Mirisola missed an effort from distance.
Substitutions late in the game included Lukas Kübler replacing Philipp Treu for Freiburg and Nikolas Sattlberger replacing Daan Heymans for Genk. The second-leg win overturned the first-leg scoreline; Genk had taken a 1-0 advantage in the opening meeting. Zakaria El Ouahdi is the top goalscorer in the europa league in 2026 with four goals and he netted the first-leg winner for Genk, having provided decisive finishes earlier in the calendar year.
Historical context from the clubs’ European records sits alongside the result: Genk had never won on four previous visits to Germany in major European competition (D2 L2), their last positive result in Germany being a 1-1 draw at Stuttgart in the 2012-13 UEFA Europa League round of 32. SC Freiburg had lost their last two UEFA Europa League games prior to this meeting, but the club had never lost three in a row in major European competition.
Immediate reactions
“Anything is possible in the second leg, ” said Julian Schuster, manager of SC Freiburg, a line he used after the first-leg defeat that framed the team’s approach to the return fixture. Schuster’s words were followed by a performance that converted those words into a comprehensive home result, while players and staff executed the chances that altered the tie.
What’s next
This round of 16 tie was played for a place in the Europa League quarter-finals. Genk, who appointed Nicky Hayen in December and had stabilised after a rough patch, had backed up their first-leg win with a 1-0 domestic victory over Sint-Truiden and sit seventh in their domestic table, narrowly behind a rival for European places.
Freiburg will look to carry momentum from this victory forward and see whether the second-leg performance can translate into continued europa league progress and improved domestic form; Genk must respond in upcoming fixtures as they seek to regroup after the reversal.
