Freiburg's 2022/23 UEFA Europa League adventure ended in a 2-0 home defeat in their last-16 second leg with Juventus.

Freiburg 0-2 Juventus (agg: 0-3)
Goals: 0-1 Vlahovic pen. 45', 0-2 Chiesa 90'+5 (assist: Rabiot)
Sent off: Gulde 43'

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Freiburg were snapping at the Juventus heels from the get-go, trying to carve out opportunities to hit the Italians on the break. Ritsu Doan sent a speculative effort off target, with Manuel Locatelli returning fire with a snap-shot at Mark Flekken. Wojciech Szczesny pulled off a double save from Lucas Höler and Matthias Ginter, before VAR intervened at the other end to rule out a Dusan Vlahovic goal for offside. Flekken thwarted Moises Kean in an eventful end to the first half that culminated in Freiburg having a man sent off following a VAR review and Juventus taking the lead. Manuel Gulde was the culprit after collecting a second bookable offence for handball, and Vlahovic squeezed the resultant penalty under Flekken’s legs.

Freiburg admirably stuck to their task, albeit without seriously testing a well-drilled Juventus outfit for anywhere near long enough to threaten a comeback. Their best chance fell just short of the hour mark when Michael Gregoritsch forced Szczesny into a sprawling save following a goalmouth scramble. Juventus didn’t have much more joy in an attacking sense, their risk-averse approach producing only one opening of note in normal time as Flekken denied Kean. Freiburg substitute Vincenzo Grifo - a Germany-born Italy international - teased a grandstand finale with a shot that Szczesny did well to keep out. Federico Chiesa added a second Juve goal in added time as Die Breisgauer exited the competition in front of an appreciative 34,000-capacity crowd at the Europa-Park Stadion.

Match stats

• Freiburg were competing in the Europa League proper for the second time in their history.
• The Black Forest club enjoyed their deepest run in UEFA competition, having previously gone as far as the third round (last 32) of the now defunct UEFA Cup - the Europa League's precursor - in 2001/02.
• Christian Streich's team were unbeaten in the group stage (W4, D2).
• It was only the second time in 24 home matches in all competitions that Freiburg failed to score.
• Grifo is an eight-time Italy international, but has played his club football exclusively in Germany.
• Juve's Filip Kostic made 249 Bundesliga appearances across spells with Hamburg, VfB Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Teams

Freiburg: Flekken - Kübler, Ginter, Gulde - Sildillia, Eggestein (Schmidt 46'), Höfler, Günter (c) (Weißhaupt 74') - Doan (Sallai 62'), Gregoritsch (Petersen 74'), Höler (Grifo 62')
Unused subs: Uphoff, Atubolu, Schmid, Keitel, Jeong, Röhl
Out: Kyereh (cruciate ligament), Lienhart (thigh)
Coach: Christian Streich

Juventus: Szczesny - Danilo (c), Bremer, Gatti - Cuadrado (De Sciglio 84'), Fagioli, Locatelli (Barrenechea 84'), Rabiot, Kostic (Iling-Junior 70') - Kean (Soule 90'+1), Vlahovic (Chiesa 70')
Unused subs: Pinsoglio, Perin, Moretti, Di Maria, Rugani, Paredes, Compagnon
Out: Alex Sandro (leg), Milik (thigh), Pogba (disciplinary)
Coach: Massimilano Allegri

As it happened

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First-leg report

Freiburg were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Juventus in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League last 16 tie, meaning their hopes of progression to the quarter-finals are still alive.

Juventus 1-0 Freiburg
Goals: 1-0 Di Maria 53' (assist: Kostic)

The trip to Turin was, arguably, the biggest night in Freiburg's history - never before have they been so deep into a European competition and, despite the hosts' difficulties in Serie A (they sit seventh in the Italian top flight), they remain one of European football's biggest fish, boasting talents such as World Cup winner Angel Di Maria and former Eintracht Frankfurt star Filip Kostic. Throughout the first half, Christian Streich's starting XI looked to stay compact and, for the most part, they did an excellent job of reducing their opponents' threat, even if they were occasionally put under significant pressure. Mark Flekken needed to be alert to deny Adrien Rabiot in the 13th minute and made further saves from Juan Cuadrado - twice - and Dusan Vlahovic, while Gleison Bremer headed over from close range before Manuel Locatelli curled an effort wide of the post. Die Breisgau-Brasilianer struggled to make much of an impact at the other end, but they generally looked composed in possession, and a clean sheet at the interval gave them plenty to build on in the second half.

After the break, the Old Lady continued to push forward in search of the opener, and they had it in the 53rd minute. Di Maria is not known for his aerial ability, but his bullet header from a pin-point Kostic cross was the first effort to beat Flekken between the Freiburg posts all night, leaving the German outfit with plenty to do. Shortly before the hour mark, the visitors looked to have restored parity when Lucas Höler fired past Wojciech Szczesny on the turn with a well-taken effort, but the goal was ultimately chalked off following a visit to the pitchside monitor for referee Tasos Sidiropoulos due to Matthias Ginter's handball in the build-up. Now trailing, Freiburg increased their intensity, pressing high whenever Juve had the ball in their own third, while Streich introduced Ritsu Doan from the substitutes' bench to give his team extra impetus. However, although Vincenzo Grifo flashed a free-kick narrowly over the crossbar, the 2022 DFB Cup finalists did not create enough to truly worry Juventus' backline or goalkeeper. Still, the slender deficit gives Freiburg hope of turning things around at the Europa-Park Stadion next week.