Aston Villa win Europa League title after beating Freiburg: Stats
21 May 2026

Aston Villa have been crowned the UEFA Europa League 2025-26 champions after a stunning 3-0 victory over SC Freiburg in the final at Istanbul.

The win marks Villa's first European trophy since 1982.

Unai Emery, who has won the competition five times now, entered record books.

Villa have been assured of a Champions League berth with this Europa League trophy win.

Here's more.

Villa's spectacular performance in Europa League final
Road to victory

Villa's road to the final was nothing short of spectacular. They had not been in a European final for 44 years, but their fans were rewarded with a brilliant display of football.

The first-half goals from Youri Tielemans and Emi Buendia were highlights of the match, leaving Freiburg stunned within minutes.

Tielemans's volley from Morgan Rogers's cross was a sight to behold, hitting the bottom corner with precision.

Buendia also impressed with his curling shot from the edge of the box that went straight into the top corner.

Rogers seals the deal for Villa
Final blow

The third goal came from Morgan Rogers, who scored from a Buendia cross at the near post. This pretty much sealed Freiburg's fate in the match.

Despite some missed opportunities later on, Aston Villa's dominance was never questioned after they took the lead.

Captain John McGinn controlled the midfield and Freiburg rarely posed a threat to their defense.

Martinez's heroics help Villa keep clean sheet
Goalkeeper's heroics

Even when Freiburg managed to get a close-range header on target, Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez was up to the task with a stunning save.

The offside flag went up later, but it didn't take away from Martinez's heroics in goal.

With this victory, Villa not only secured a European trophy but also guaranteed a top-five finish in the Premier League for next season's Champions League football.

Emery clocks these feats with Europa League trophy win
Numbers

As per Opta, no manager has won more major European finals than Emery (level with Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho and Giovanni Trapattoni).

Villa's Unai Emery took charge of his sixth major European final tonight (all in the UEFA Europa League) with Giovanni Trapattoni (7) the only manager to take charge of more.

Emery has won three Europa League titles with Sevilla, one with Villarreal and now one with Villa.

He ended up as a runner-up with Arsenal.

Rogers enters record books
Fact

Aged 23 years and 298 days, Rogers is the youngest Englishman to score in a major European final since Steven Gerrard for Liverpool vs Alaves in the 2001 UEFA Cup final (20y 351d).