Unai Emery’s Aston Villa Beat Freiburg To Win Europa League In Istanbul

Premier League side, Aston Villa ended their 30-year wait for major silverware on Wednesday night, May 21, after beating SC Freiburg 3-0 to win the Europa League final in Istanbul.

Captain John McGinn lifted the trophy at Besiktas Park as Aston Villa secured their first European title since the 1982 European Cup triumph.

Goals from Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendia and Morgan Rogers sealed a famous victory for Unai Emery, who claimed a fifth Europa League title of his managerial career.

Villa’s latest European success came in front of several members of the club’s 1982 European Cup-winning side, including former captain Dennis Mortimer and ex-striker Peter Withe.

Tielemans opened the scoring with a stunning volley after a clever short-corner routine before Buendia curled home Villa’s second to leave Freiburg with little route back into the game.

Rogers wrapped up victory late on, sparking wild celebrations among the Villa substitutes and supporters inside the stadium.

Emery said: “I am thankful to [co-owners] Nassef [Sawiris] and Wes [Edens]… they are supporting always. I am thankful to the supporters and I am thankful for the players.

“All the times I am successful in this competition I needed good players. Now I am so thankful for the players, they are following our ambitions.

“They are protagonists on the field. This is the reason I am not feeling the king in this competition. I am feeling really thankful, we are the kings together.

“After 1982 the club won the European Cup, it was something they were missing, the supporters, a trophy. Achieving this one is making us so, so happy but we are not going to stop.”

Tielemans described the win as the perfect ending to Villa’s season.

“I feel amazing,” he told TNT Sports. “My voice is a bit gone but it’s all good. We put in a shift, a top performance, we had a great season. To top it off with this is amazing.

“It’s been a season with a lot of ups and downs. We started so so bad. Our standards were very poor.

“The way we turned things around was a credit to the players and staff. We kept working, believing. We got the win in the end, Champions League next season and a trophy.”

More than 20,000 Villa supporters travelled to Turkey for the final, far exceeding the club’s official ticket allocation of 10,758, with fans turning parts of Istanbul into what many dubbed “Astonbul”.

Among those watching was Prince William, a well-known Villa supporter, who celebrated passionately throughout the match before congratulating the club afterwards.

He said: “Amazing night!! Huge congratulations to all the players, team, staff and everyone connected to the club! 44 years since the last taste of European silverware!

“Special shout out to Boubacar Kamara who has been out injured but is such an integral part of our team and helped lay the foundations of this success.”

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez later revealed he suffered a broken finger during the warm-up but still completed the final.

“Today I broke my finger during the warm-up and for me, every bad thing brings something good,” Martinez said.

“I’ve done this my whole life and I’ll keep doing it.

“Should I be worried? Well, I’ve never had a broken finger before. Every time I caught the ball, it went the other way. But these are things you have to go through, and I’m proud to defend Aston Villa.”

The Argentine produced two saves during the match before joining in the post-match celebrations as Emery was lifted into the air by his players.