Braga clinches slim advantage against Freiburg thanks to stoppage-time strike in Europa League semi-final opener

Braga kicked off their first Europa League semi-final appearance in 15 years on the ideal note, surging ahead inside 10 minutes courtesy of Demir Ege Tinknaz.

Jordy Makengo struggled to handle a lofted delivery, his feeble clearing header enabling Victor Gomez to control the ball and square it for Tinknaz to poke past Noah Atubolu.

The away side seemed rattled, yet they quickly earned an opportunity to level when a blunder in midfield let Jan-Niklas Beste break clear and enter the area, from where he laid off for Vincenzo Grifo to guide in his sixth continental strike this campaign.

That said, instead of Grifo, it was Atubolu who ensured his outfit headed into half-time all square, pulling off a brilliant spot-kick denial during added time of the opening 45.

The keeper dived left to deny Rodrigo Zalazar, after Philipp Lienhart received a controversial foul call for grabbing Gustaf Lagerbielke, confirmed by VAR.

A thrilling conclusion to the initial half gave way to a tentative beginning of the restart, which ignited when Maximilian Eggestein compelled Lukas Hornicek to a shaky save, pouncing on a header at the back post.

With the clock winding down, Julian Schusters team shifted focus from chasing a victory to safeguarding the stalemate, retreating to blunt the home attacks.

Their approach almost succeeded, but Dorgeles delivered a thrilling late decider in the second minute of added time at the end.

Atubolu merely deflected Vitor Carvalhos effort into the path of the 21-year-old, who calmly finished the loose ball to hand his team a vital lead before the second leg in Germany next week.