Freiburg started their Europa League campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 home win over Qarabag on Thursday.
Vincenzo Grifo opened the scoring for the hosts with an early penalty, awarded following a video review of a foul, and Ritsu Doan soon doubled the lead.
But Qarabag cut the deficit through Marko Vesovic before the break and pushed for an equalizer in the second half only for Freiburg to hold on.
Freiburg continue in Group G next away to Olympiacos, who started with a 2-1 defeat at Nantes.
