Yuito Suzuki hat-trick sinks Werder Bremen as Freiburg cruise to victory
Yuito Suzuki scored a hat-trick as Freiburg cruised to a 4-1 win over Werder Bremen at the Europa-Park Stadion.
Freiburg 4-1 Werder Bremen
Goals: 1-0 Suzuki 29’ (assist: Beste), 2-0 Matanović 45’ (assist: Ginter), 3-0 Suzuki 48’ (assist: Scherhant), 4-0 Suzuki 55’ (assist: Matanović), 4-1 Stalmach 76’ (assist: Grüll)
Freiburg made four changes from their midweek UEFA Conference League play-off win over Motherwell, with Lukas Kübler, Jordy Makengo and Philipp Lienhart restored to defence and Niklas Beste preferred to Cyriaque Irié in attack.
Werder, who were rocked by an injury to key midfielder Jens Stage on the eve of their 2026/27 Bundesliga opener, made three alterations from their DFB Cup victory over LSK Hansa. Karl Hein started in goal, while summer signings Ludovit Reis and Chuki came in for Samuel Mbangula and Stage.
Suzuki header breaks deadlock
There was little to choose between the sides in the opening stages, with Marco Grüll and Amos Pieper both testing former Bremen goalkeeper Mio Backhaus from distance.
Freiburg gradually took control, however, and after Igor Matanović and Matthias Ginter had both had efforts blocked, the home side finally opened the scoring when Beste's inswinging corner from the right was nodded home by the unmarked Suzuki.
Freiburg continued to press for a second goal, which arrived in first-half stoppage time when Ginter played the ball into Matanović, who turned just outside the box before firing a rasping effort into the far corner to make it 2-0 at the interval.
Freiburg's hat-trick hero
Julian Schuster's side made a blistering start to the second period. Just three minutes after the restart, Derry Scherhant beat his marker down the left before squaring the ball for Suzuki, who slotted home his second and Freiburg's third of the afternoon.
Suzuki completed his hat-trick just eight minutes later, finishing coolly from point-blank range after Matanović had unselfishly squared the ball for his Japanese team-mate.
Werder substitute Dariusz Stalmach headed in from a Grüll corner in the 76th minute to give Bremen a consolation, but Freiburg comfortably saw out the remainder of the contest to secure a routine victory.
Man of the Match: Yuito Suzuki
Suzuki had never scored a Bundesliga brace before Sunday afternoon, but the Japanese attacker now has a first-ever German top-flight hat-trick to his name after a scintillating display against Bremen.
The 24-year-old's fantasy points return of 514 underlines the impact he had on Freiburg's emphatic victory.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Freiburg 2.59 - Werder Bremen 0.73
Fastest player: Justin Njinmah (Bremen), 34.72 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 2-0 by Igor Matanović (Freiburg), four percent
Pass efficiency: Lukas Kübler (Freiburg), +3.06
Fantasy Heroes: Yuito Suzuki (Freiburg, 514 Points), Igor Matanović (Freiburg, 341 Points), Marco Grüll (Werder Bremen, 204 Points)
