Matthias Ginter snatched a point for Freiburg in a dramatic 3-3 draw with Bayer Leverkusen, who were denied a comeback win at Europa-Park Stadion.

Leverkusen had twice come from behind before taking the lead, but ended up dropping two points in the race for a top-four place in the Bundesliga, sitting two points behind Stuttgart.

Freiburg started strong, but it took until the 34th minute for them to find a breakthrough. Christian Gunter swept a cross onto the edge of the six-yard box for Vincenzo Grifo, who scooped his shot over Janis Blaswich.

But just three minutes later, Leverkusen pulled level with their first effort on target. Martin Terrier poked the ball into Christian Kofane, who drilled it into the bottom-left corner.

Freiburg were back in front by the 43rd minute as another brilliant counter-attack was this time turned in by Yuito Suzuki, who was unmarked in the box.

A stunning free-kick from Alex Grimaldo restored parity in the third minute of first-half stoppage time; from just outside the box, his set-piece swerved over the wall and into the roof of the net.

Leverkusen took the lead for the first time in the 52nd minute. A brilliant run from Kofane opened it up for Terrier's lovely first-time finish. But Freiburg were not out yet as Ginter stooped to thump a header home with four minutes of the 90 remaining.

It looked like Freiburg had snatched the three points moments later, but Ginter was offside when turning in the rebound of Maximilian Eggestein's saved shot, while Leverkusen's chance for a winner saw Grimaldo's shot flash across the face of goal.

Data Debrief: Leverkusen cannot hold on

Leverkusen made a slow start, but looked to have put that behind them on either side of half-time, but they were holding on at the end.

Freiburg won the expected goals (xG) battle 2.5 to 2.04, and had 22 shots, of which nine were on target, with Leverkusen managing 17 attempts (five on target).

Grimaldo has now scored five direct free-kick goals in all competitions this season – more than any other player from Europe's top five leagues (moves past Dominik Szoboszlai's four).