Unai Emery reaffirmed his status as the king of the Europa League and etched his name alongside some all-time coaching greats after leading Aston Villa to glory in Istanbul on Wednesday.
Villa beat Freiburg 3-0 to secure Emery a record-extending fifth title in this competition.
He ties legendary Italian coaches Giovanni Trapattoni and Carlo Ancelotti as well as Portuguese great José Mourinho for most major European final wins. He also joins Ancelotti as just the second manager to win a major European competition on five occasions.
Youri Tielemans opened the scoring with an exquisite volley in Istanbul before Emiliano Buendía doubled Villa’s advantage when he scored a wonderful curling effort in first-half stoppage time.
Morgan Rogers added a third prior to the hour mark Istanbul as the Premier League side cruised to an emphatic win.
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Was the outcome ever in doubt with the ultimate Europa League specialist Emery on the sideline?
The Spanish coach has enjoyed remarkable success in Europe‘s second-tier competition, winning it three years running with Sevilla from 2014-16 and again with Villarreal in 2021.
Now he has led a third team with ‘Villa’ in its name to the title.
“I am always very grateful for Europe, for every competition, Conference League, Champions League, Europa League, but especially Europa League,” Emery said. “We fought strongly in this competition and tried to give it our best. We played in a very serious way this year.”
Villa were in England’s second tier as recently, in 2019. And while they were the overwhelming favorites going into Wednesday’s match, occasions like this looked a long way off when Emery was hired in 2022.
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Back then, Villa were one place above the relegation zone and in danger of going down again.
The transformation he has overseen has been remarkable — leading the team into the Champions League last season and qualifying for European club soccer’s top competition again next term.
“With this manager in charge, anything’s possible,” captain John McGinn said. “Tonight was just everything we have built, coming together, and the pride I felt at 3-0 with 10 minutes to go, thinking we’re European champions was something I can’t even describe.
“It’s the proudest moment and night of my career so far.”
Since Emery took over, only Real Madrid have won more games (30 wins in 47 games) in UEFA club competitions than Aston Villa (29 wins in 41 games).
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It was Villa’s first major piece of silverware since winning the English League Cup in 1996 and their first continental title since lifting the European Cup and then the Super Cup in 1982.
“Normally sometimes in the league games he’s a little bit anxious because obviously he wants us to win, but today he was really calm and I think that set the tone for us boys,” striker Ollie Watkins said.
A serial winner, Emery has now won trophies with clubs from three different countries, having also lifted the French title with Paris Saint-Germain.
ESPN Research, The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.
