Former Benfica star shines in Europa League final: best on pitch | OneFootball

Aston Villa won a European title again 44 years later by beating Freiburg 3-0 in the Europa League final. Unai Emery’s side thus lifted the fifth trophy of the Spanish coach’s career, on a night when Victor Lindelof, the former Benfica player, stood out in a big way.

Deployed once again in the defensive midfield role, the Swedish international delivered a performance widely praised by his teammates and was even singled out by Ollie Watkins as the standout player of the match. The forward also highlighted the calm shown by the manager before the game.

“He was very calm today in the build-up. Sometimes, in league matches, he gets anxious because he wants to win, but today he was calm and that set the tone for us lads. Youri controlled the game in midfield. And Victor has been so good since he came in, he was the best player on the pitch,” he told TNT Sports.

The England forward also did not hide his emotion over the triumph, underlining the scale of the moment experienced by the English club. “Fantastic, fantastic. To put in a performance like that was incredible. I felt we really controlled the game and, in the end, punished them. An incredible experience. Look at this. This is what you dream of. Sometimes there are ups and downs, but we got there in the end, pushed on and secured qualification for the Champions League. It’s so special. All these fans... it’s indescribable,” he admitted.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.