Sporting de Braga’s European journey came to a heartbreaking end on Thursday as they failed to secure a spot in the Europa League final. The Portuguese side fell 3-1 away to SC Freiburg in the second leg of the semi-finals, unable to defend their narrow lead from the first leg.
The match turned against the “Arsenalistas” almost immediately when Dorgeles was sent off just six minutes into the game.
Read more about this topic: Europa League: Aston Villa reach first European final since 1982 (with video)
Playing with ten men for nearly the entire match, Braga struggled to contain the German side. Lukas Kübler opened the scoring for Freiburg in the 19th minute, followed by a goal from Johan Manzambi in the 41st. Kübler struck again in the 72nd minute to effectively seal the tie.
Despite the disadvantage, Braga showed resilience and managed to pull one back in the 79th minute through Pau Víctor, but it wasn’t enough to overturn the aggregate score. Freiburg’s 3-1 victory (4-3 on aggregate) sends them to the final in Istanbul on May 20, where they will face England’s Aston Villa.
