Emery’s Empire: Can the Europa League’s Greatest Manager Claim a Fifth Title With Aston Villa? | OneFootball

Unai Emery has won a quarter of UEFA Europa League titles since it rebranded in 2009. Can the Aston Villa manager secure a fifth and create more history?

Unai Emery will once again lead a team into a UEFA Europa League final on Wednesday night, as his Aston Villa team face Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in Istanbul.

It will be Aston Villa’s first major European final appearance since beating Bayern Munich in the 1981-82 European Cup (no, their 2002 Intertoto Cup success doesn’t count as major). But while they may lack experience in European finals across the last four decades, they’ll be guided by a manager who has been there many times before.

The 2025-26 Europa League is the 17th edition since it was rebranded in 2009. This will be the sixth of 17 finals since that rebrand to feature a team managed by Emery (31.6%), while the Spanish manager has led his team to glory in four of the previous 16.

That means a quarter of all Europa League trophies have been lifted by Emery since it replaced the UEFA Cup.

Overall, of managers to have taken charge of at least 25 games in the competition since its rebranding in 2009, Emery has the third best win ratio. The Villa boss has secured victory in 63.9% of his 108 games, a rate below only Diego Simeone (80.8%) and André Villas-Boas (64.1%).

Ahead of the 2025-26 Europa League final on Wednesday night, we look at all five of Emery’s previous final appearances in the competition.

2013-14

Sevilla 0-0 Benfica (Won 4-2 on Pens)

Emery picked up his first Europa League title as a manager with Sevilla, defeating Benfica in a penalty shootout following a goalless draw in Turin.

Unlike Benfica, who entered the competition in the knockout stages after elimination from the Champions League, Sevilla battled through 18 games from the third round of qualification to reach the final.

Benfica attempted nearly twice as many shots as their opponents (20-11) but couldn’t force a winner in 120 minutes of action. They were made to pay when both Óscar Cardozo and Rodrigo missed their penalties in the shootout, before Kevin Gameiro scored the winning spot-kick.

2014-15

Sevilla 3-2 Dnipro

Emery secured his second Europa League crown when his Sevilla side retained their title with a 3-2 win over Dnipro in Warsaw on 27 May 2015.

Dnipro were surprise finalists, knocking out Napoli in the semi-finals to become just the third different Ukrainian side to play in a major European final. Despite their underdog status, they opened the scoring in the seventh minute of the final through Nikola Kalinić.

Sevilla battled back to win 3-2 thanks to goals from Carlos Bacca (2) and Grzegorz Krychowiak to become UEFA Cup/Europa League winners for the fourth time, with Emery becoming the first coach to win the competition in successive years since Juande Ramos also did so with Sevilla in 2006 and 2007.

2015-16

Sevilla 3-1 Liverpool

Sevilla and Liverpool met in European competition for the first time in their history in the 2016 UEFA Europa League final, as the Spanish side secured a third successive title. It was the first time that a team had reached three successive UEFA Cup/Europa League finals, and they won them all.

Unlike the previous two seasons, Sevilla entered the Europa League in the knockout stage after dropping out of the Champions League group stage.

Just like in the previous final, Sevilla had to come from a goal down to secure victory. Daniel Sturridge opened the scoring for Liverpool, giving the Premier League club a half-time lead. But Kevin Gameiro started a comeback just 17 seconds into the second half, before a brace from Coke sealed the win for Sevilla.

Victory secured a fifth UEFA Cup/Europa League title for the La Liga club, making them the most successful in the history of the competition.

2018-19

Arsenal 1-4 Chelsea

Emery suffered a heavy defeat in his first UEFA Europa League final with a club other than Sevilla, when Chelsea defeated his Arsenal side 4-1 in the 2019 final in Baku.

The Spanish boss took over in north London at the start of the 2018-19 campaign, replacing legendary manager Arsène Wenger in the Gunners’ dugout. This was his fourth appearance in a UEFA Cup/Europa League final, breaking Giovanni Trapattoni and Sven-Göran Eriksson’s shared record of three finals in the competition.

In what was only the second all-English UEFA Cup/Europa League final after the inaugural final in 1972 between Wolves and Tottenham, Arsenal were no match for Chelsea, who won thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud, Pedro and Eden Hazard (2).

2020-21

Villarreal 1-1 Manchester United (Won 11-10 on Pens)

Villarreal lifted their first major European trophy in May 2021, defeating Manchester United on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the 2020-21 Europa League final in Gdańsk.

After the four previous competitive meetings between Villarreal and Man Utd had ended as goalless draws, Gerard’s 29th-minute opener was the first ever scored in this fixture. Edinson Cavani equalised for United in the second half, taking the game to a penalty shootout following a goalless extra-time.

Following 21 successful penalties in a row, United goalkeeper David de Gea was the last to take a spot kick, and he saw his attempt saved by his opposite number, Gerónimo Rulli.

This was Emery’s fourth Europa League crown, meaning he went clear of Trapattoni’s record of winning the competition three times (including the UEFA Cup era).

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