Emery Crowned ‘Mr Europa League’ as Aston Villa Crush Freiburg 3-0 for First Trophy in 30 Years

Unai Emery has done it again—this time making history. The Spanish tactician secured his unprecedented fifth Europa League title Wednesday, leading Aston Villa to a dominant 3-0 victory over Freiburg in Istanbul and restoring the Midlands club to football’s elite after three decades of silverware drought.

Emery’s winning streak now spans three clubs—and they all share one thing: the letters “villa.” Sevilla (2014, 2015, 2016), Villarreal (2021), and now Aston Villa. He’s the first manager to win Europe’s second-tier competition with three different teams.

Villa needed 42 minutes to break the deadlock. Youri Tielemans powered home a superb volley from Morgan Rogers’ cross. Just before halftime, Emiliano Buendía curled a stunning left-footed beauty into the far corner. Rogers tapped in Buendía’s cross for the third before the hour.

Freiburg never recovered. Even Prince William, Villa’s most famous fan, celebrated ecstatically among the traveling Birmingham faithful.

When Emery arrived in late 2022, Villa were flirting with Premier League relegation. Now they’re Europa League champions, qualified for next season’s Champions League, and holders of their first trophy since the 1996 League Cup—their first European silverware since the 1982 European Cup.

“We’ll go down in history,” said Rogers. Tielemans, whose voice was “gone” from celebrating, added: “We started so bad… but the way we turned things around was great.”

For Emery, the message was simpler: “Desire. They showed it on the field.”