🏆 Legendary Emery: Aston Villa treble, 5th Europa League! 3-0 v Freiburg | OneFootball

Unai Emery has done it again: the Spaniard has won his fifth Europa League after his 3 with Sevilla and the one with Villarreal. Aston Villa dominated the final in Istanbul with a clear 3-0 win, in a match that was never really in doubt, thanks to goals from Tielemans, Buendia and Rogers. It is their first success after 44 years, when the English side won the Champions League. Emery draws level with Ancelotti, Mourinho and Trapattoni for European finals won (5)

Nothing doing for Freiburg, in the first European final in their history, as they surrendered to the strongest team in the competition, who started as favorites and took home the Cup under the eyes of the passionate Prince William, who put on a show in the stands. 

🥳 Prince William GOES WILD

Big celebrations at Besiktas Park in Istanbul, with Prince William literally going wild in the stands.

🔥 Aston Villa make it three: Rogers gets on the scoresheet too

In the 57th minute Aston Villa put the match to bed.

Buendia bursts down the wing and sends it into the box: Rogers attacks the near post hungrily and, with a left-footed side-foot finish, beats everyone to it to put Emery's team within touching distance of triumph.

😍 Buendia MASTERPIECE: Villans go 2-0 up

With the last meaningful ball of the first half, in first-half stoppage time, the Villans doubled their lead. The move developed on the right and found Buendia, unusually on the opposite side.

Control with the right foot and a wonderful curling left-footed shot that nestled in the top corner. A deadly one-two and English apotheosis, with the entire bench charging onto the pitch to celebrate. 

 RANDOM STATS | Buendia becomes the second Argentine scorer in a Europa League/UEFA Cup final since 2000 after Paulo Dybala  

🧨 Tielemans breaks the deadlock: VOLLEY screamer

Aston Villa opened the scoring in the 40th minute and it was a masterpiece from Youri Tielemans. A Villans set play from a corner saw Rogers cross and the ball arrive to the former Anderlecht man, who volleyed home with his right foot to send the English fans wild (Prince William included).

It was a cruel blow for Freiburg, who are the top-scoring team from set pieces in the Bundesliga and conceded from what is usually their specialty. 

RANDOM STATS | Tielemans has scored the 1-0 in two different finals: the FA Cup final with Leicester (vs Chelsea in 2021) and today with Aston Villa (vs Freiburg in 2026)

🟥 Freiburg protests: should Cash have seen red?

Fierce protests from Freiburg in the 21st minute after a clumsy challenge by Cash on Grifo: high foot but no red card, only yellow, because the Pole, despite the dangerous challenge, also got the ball.

The match is tense in a truly infernal atmosphere. Aston Villa threatened in the very early minutes through Rogers, but Atubolu, a man in demand on the international market, made the save.

Freiburg's response came from club stalwart Höfler, who in the 17th minute fired narrowly wide from a good position. 

👏🏻 Choreography that gives you chills

Fantastic choreographies shortly before kick-off. 

👑 Prince William in attendance

A special fan in Istanbul: Prince William is in the stands, a huge Aston Villa supporter who is always there to back the Villans.

✅ The OFFICIAL lineups

 FREIBURG (4-2-3-1): Atubolu; Kübler, Lienhart, Ginter, Treu; Eggestein, Höfler; Beste, Manzambi, Grifo; Matanovic. Coach: Schuster.

 ASTON VILLA (5-4-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Pau Torres, Digne; McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers, Buendia; Watkins. Coach: Emery.

Onana does not start, but he is available.

📊 Aston Villa could send the 6th-placed Premier League team into the Champions League

With a specific set of results, Aston Villa could allow the Premier League to have 6 teams in the Champions League;

1) They win the Europa League; 2) They lose their final Premier League match against Manchester City; 3) Liverpool beat Brentford.

That way, Bournemouth or Brighton would qualify for the Champions League from 6th place in the table.

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

📸 STEFANO RELLANDINI - AFP or licensors