Ricardo Horta scored twice as Braga produced a stunning second-leg turnaround to beat Ferencvaros 4-0 and advance to the Europa League quarter-finals 4-2 on aggregate.

The comeback in the tie was complete inside the opening 34 minutes at Estadio Municipal de Braga, before Horta brilliantly concluded the scoring eight minutes after the restart.

Braga made the perfect start in the 11th minute through Horta, who placed the ball past David Grof from six yards out after being found by Rodrigo Zalazar’s pinpoint delivery.

Florian Grillitsch then restored parity in the tie four minutes later after his curled attempt squirmed under Grof’s grasp, but it got even better for Braga 11 minutes before half-time.

After being slipped in behind the Ferencvaros defence by Pau Victor, Gabri Martinez took a touch before prodding an effort into the bottom-right corner to spark wild scenes.

But Horta saved the best until last after he was found by Grillitsch’s cutback, with the Braga captain curling a bending effort in off the right post to put the tie beyond Ferencvaros.

Lukas Hornicek was, however, kept on his toes at the other end by Julio Romao’s stinging 68th-minute drive, but Braga comfortably held on to book their spot in the last eight, where they will face either Panathinaikos or Real Betis.

No SC Braga não há impossíveis.

A nossa caminhada na #UEL continua! #GanharComTodos pic.twitter.com/fUK0gvW9z0

— SC Braga (@SCBragaOficial) March 18, 2026

Data Debrief: Captain Horta outshone by Zalazar

Though Horta will receive many of the plaudits for his two-goal display, Zalazar was the standout performer for Braga, and his performance perhaps merited more than the assist he managed in the first half.

The Uruguayan ended the match with team-high totals for touches in the opposition box (seven), chances created (two), successful dribbles (four), total duels (27) and duels won (13), though he did lose possession more times than any of his Braga team-mates (16).

Braga have now progressed from a two-legged knockout stage tie in major European competition after losing the first leg by 2+ goals for just the second time, having previously done so against Sheriff Tiraspol in the 2021-22 Europa League.

And Carlos Vicens’ side were worthy of their win, having registered an expected goals (xG) total of 1.58 from their nine shots, six of which were on target, compared to Ferencvaros’ tally of 0.17 from their four attempts.