Freiburg 4-1 Werder Bremen: Yuito Suzuki hat-trick powers emphatic Bundesliga opener

Freiburg opened their Bundesliga season with a ruthless 4-1 victory over Werder Bremen, as Yuito Suzuki scored the first top-flight hat-trick of his career to turn a competitive opening into another emphatic statement from Julian Schuster’s side.

Werder started with greater purpose than the final score suggested.

Marco Grüll and Amos Pieper both tested former Bremen goalkeeper Mio Backhaus from distance as the visitors attempted to establish themselves early, but Freiburg gradually took control of territory and began finding greater space around the penalty area.

The breakthrough came in the 29th minute.

Niklas Beste delivered an inswinging corner from the right and Suzuki escaped his marker before directing a free header into the net.

That goal changed the balance of the contest.

Freiburg began sustaining pressure with greater consistency and doubled their advantage at the end of the first half when Matthias Ginter found Igor Matanović outside the area.

The striker turned before driving a powerful finish into the far corner, sending Freiburg into the interval with a 2-0 lead.

The decisive phase arrived immediately after the restart.

Three minutes into the second half, Derry Scherhant beat his defender on the left and squared for Suzuki, who finished calmly for his second.

Seven minutes later, the Japan international completed his hat-trick.

Matanović broke into space and chose the pass rather than the shot, rolling the ball across the area for Suzuki to finish from close range and make it 4-0.

The sequence captured the difference between the teams.

Werder had competed during the opening half-hour, but Freiburg punished every loss of defensive control once the game began to stretch.

According to official Bundesliga match data, Freiburg finished with an expected-goals figure of 2.59 compared with Bremen’s 0.73, reflecting the extent to which Schuster’s side generated the more dangerous chances as the afternoon developed.

Werder eventually found a consolation in the 76th minute when substitute Dariusz Stalmach headed in Marco Grüll’s corner, but there was no realistic route back into the contest.

For Freiburg, the performance continued an exceptional opening to the competitive season.

They had already beaten Motherwell twice in Conference League qualifying and defeated Fortuna Düsseldorf 5-1 in the DFB-Pokal. Sunday’s result therefore made it four victories from four competitive matches, with another four-goal performance arriving only three days after their European qualification was secured.

Schuster had also made four changes from the midweek win over Motherwell, including significant rotation across his defensive line, without disrupting the team’s rhythm.

Suzuki was the central figure.

Before Sunday he had never scored twice in a Bundesliga match. By the 55th minute, he had a hat-trick — one header and two left-footed finishes — and had effectively decided Freiburg’s league opener.

Matanović’s influence was almost as important, contributing a goal and the assist for Suzuki’s third while repeatedly occupying Bremen’s centre-backs.

Werder leave Freiburg with a more difficult early picture.

They were already without key midfielder Jens Stage after his serious thigh injury in training and, after remaining competitive in the opening stages, were comprehensively exposed once Freiburg accelerated around half-time.

Freiburg, by contrast, could hardly have asked for a stronger start.

Four competitive games have produced four wins, and their first Bundesliga afternoon established Suzuki as the latest attacking figure to emerge at the centre of Schuster’s increasingly fluent side.