Ben Fisher was at Beşiktaş Park tonight. Here’s his match report. Congratulations to Aston Villa, commiserations to Freiburg, and thank you, dear reader, for sticking with this MBM.
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Unai Emery - who has now won the Europa League five times, with three different clubs, records both – talks to TNT Sports. “Good evening … it is fantastic … Europe has given us a lot … and myself … I am always very grateful for Europe … and the clubs I have worked at … Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal and here with Aston Villa … and of course the players … we played in a very serious way … focus … the players wished … the club is working to extend the stadium by 10,000 people … expanding the training centre …. development with the players … extending contracts … we must be demanding in our process … we are improving … the brand is very important … I am ambitious … but I need support … the players, the owners … clear and realistic … the Premier League is the most difficult league in the world … hopefully we can get closer.”
He also congratulates former club Arsenal for their Premier League title.
McGinn then moves on from the bigger picture to the match itself. “I don’t think we started the game pretty well … but we have a great set piece coach … we set up like the Liverpool corner and tried to deceive them a bit and it worked … after that we relaxed and played our football.”
It really is pelting down in Istanbul, and John McGinn has to wipe the rain from his eyes as he comes over to talk to TNT Sports. “I can’t believe it to be honest … what we’ve been through as a club … this club was close to being in a right bad way seven years ago … [owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens] bought the club … they had one remit, to get the club back to the Premier League … then get it to compete to the levels it had before … tonight was just everything we have built coming together … the pride I felt 3-0 up with ten minutes to go, thinking ‘we’re European champions’ was something I can’t even describe.”
TNT’s Becky Ives finally gets to talk to Ezri Konsa! “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet … seven years at this club … a lot of ups and downs … to finally bring back some silverware for this club and the fans … look what it means to the fans … and the players … the fans have been through thick and thin with us, so this is for them … if you guys [at home in Birmingham] saw my letter [in the Players’ Tribune], I said believe … so if you did do that, thank you … this is for you!”
Ezri Konsa talks to TNT – finally, after being pulled away twice for some more team photos! “It’s mental … I don’t know what to say … it’s been a long journey … to finally bring some silverware back home.” Then Unai Emery arrives to join the team photo, and so TNT interviewer Becky Ives thoughtfully – and urgently – cuts short the interview. “Walk with me, walk with me,” she tells Konsa. “Unai Emery has come over! Go back for that photo! Don’t miss it, don’t miss it! Go go go, go go go!” Konsa, who had previously politely apologised for keeping Ives waiting, scampers back to join the mise-en-scene. Now it’s his turn to be front and centre, next to the cup and his delighted manager. That was a heart-warming moment all round.
The Villa players and staff get together for a team photo. The cup front and centre. Actually, more accurately, Emi Martínez front and centre, lying flat on the turf, pretending to be asleep. He’s a wag. Hey, he’s done worse. The rain coming down quite hard. Villa and their fans won’t care. They won’t feel a single drop.
Up come Aston Villa, who first jostle their delighted manager Unai Emery before going up to collect their medals. Then the big moment for John McGinn, who joins Dennis Mortimer and Ken McNaught in lifting a European trophy for the Villa! He collects the cup, kisses it, walks over to the podium, where all his mates wait, performs a little jig and raises the heavy silver vase into the sky with a huge shout of delight! Up goes the cup, down comes the ticker tape, and Villa pass their prize around. Then they wander down to their fans, everyone taking turns to raise the trophy and an even bigger cheer. Joyous scenes.
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It’s time for the trophy presentation. Aston Villa form a guard of honour, first for the officials, then for their vanquished opponents. Villa warmly applaud the Freiburg players, Christian Günter leading the way and mouthing a humble but grateful “thank you” to the Villa men. Freiburg join a list of brave minnows who reached the final but couldn’t take the last step: Alavés, Middlesbrough, Fulham, Celtic, Rangers (x2), Dnipro. They’ll be proud of their efforts when the sting of defeat wears off. Like the aforementioned teams, those efforts will be remembered through the ages.
Ollie Watkins has a chat with TNT. “Amazing … to perform like that was unbelievable … we really controlled the game and punished them in the end … I’ve watched many finals and set pieces are crucial … until then it was cagey … we worked an unbelievable set piece … fair play to Austin [McPhee, set-piece coach] … we had the balls to leave four up at a corner … we pulled through in the end … now this, it’s so special … [Unai Emery] was really calm in the build up … that set the tone … Victor [Lindelof] was my man of the match tonight.”
Morgan Rogers talks to TNT. “It’s hard to put into words … we worked so hard for this … we knew we had one more game to give it our all … we all delivered … a great moment for the fans … it will go down in history … it was a great opportunity to win a trophy … we did that … the manager has been banging on about me getting easier goals … happy to get in there and get a toe on it … I’m tired but not that tired!”
A delighted Youri Tielemans talks to TNT. “Feel amazing … my voice is a bit gone … it’s all good … we put in a shift … a great season … to top it off with this, it’s amazing … we only had one day to practice [set-piece routines] … we did it on Monday … it went brilliantly tonight … it’s been a season with a lot of ups and downs … we started so poor … the way we turned things around was great … Champions League and a trophy! … great … UP THE VILLA!!!”
To a man, Aston Villa begin their cavorting around Beşiktaş Park! Emi Martínez – a pre-match injury concern, but no Jimmy Rimmer he – crumples to the floor in delight. John McGinn bouncing. Freed From Desire blaring from the speakers. They’re going to enjoy this, and whyever not, because that was a fitting way to slake their trophy thirst. Seriously impressive. There wasn’t much in it for the first 40 minutes, and if anything Freiburg were slightly the better side. But the Germans didn’t force Martinez into action, and when Villa finally located a higher gear … wow. A wonderful corner-kick routine and volley from Youri Tielemans changed everything. Emi Buendía curled home a worldie. Morgan Rogers made it three with a poacher’s goal, and Villa eased their way home from there. Freiburg utterly outclassed by the end. On this form, Villa will be a serious proposition in next year’s Champions League. But for now, they’re going to live in the moment and get down to some serious celebration. Aston Villa: 2026 Europa League champions!
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FULL TIME: Freiburg 0-3 Aston Villa
Aston Villa are the winners of the 2026 Europa League! It’s their first trophy for 30 years, and their first European pot for 43!
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90 min: Manzambi whistles a cross in from the right. Luiz flick-heads away from danger with red shirts lurking. There will be one minute of additional time.
89 min: As for that Sancho sequence … “More impressive that he achieved this while his contract was always with a different football club for those three years,” notes Spencer Jones. “Surely a first.”
88 min: Torres and Tielemans are replaced by Mings and Luiz.
87 min: Scherhant gives Konsa a petulant shove. The referee lets him away with it. A little frustration is allowed.
86 min: Günter comes on for Beste.
84 min: The resulting free kick is swung in from the left, finding Manzambi on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. He heads goalwards from the tight angle, but Martinez, with the ball past him, manages to claw it back under his control. A fine save, and it turns out Manzambi was offside anyway. But the keeper wasn’t to know that.
83 min: McGinn has a little nibble at an in-flight Rosenfelder, and goes into the book. He can have no complaints, and to be fair doesn’t make any.
81 min: Villa send on Sancho and Maatsen in place of Buendia and Digne. Sancho has now played in three European finals in the last three seasons, for three different clubs in three different competitions. He featured for Dortmund in the 2024 Champions League final, then scored for Chelsea in last season’s Conference League final. This sort of carry-on takes some doing.
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79 min: Cash delivers long. McGinn, romping in from the other flank, has time to set himself before shooting, but rather scuffs his shot towards the bottom right. Easy for Atubolu.
78 min: Villa certainly want another. Watkins sashays deep into Freiburg territory and wins a corner on the left. Cash to send it in.
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77 min: What a miss. Such a shame, because that was a lovely free-flowing move.
75 min: To their great credit, the Freiburg fans are still making plenty of noise, determined to enjoy what’s left of their day. Villa try to get their fans going again, McGinn and Tielemans combining crisply down the inside left to release Buendia, one on one with Atubolu, on the corner of the six-yard box. Buendia tries to wedge over the keeper instead of taking the easier option, going for the far corner, and ripples the side netting.
73 min: Another double change by Freiburg. Grifo and Kübler make way for Scherhant and Makengo.
71 min: Villa look in the mood to set some records. The biggest win in a one-off final is Sevilla’s 4-0 evisceration of Middlesbrough in 2006.
69 min: Watkins advances down the inside-right channel and shoots instead of feeding either Rogers or Buendia to his left. That would have led to a certain goal. But it’s just a corner, sent in from the right. Onana, from a very tight angle beyond the far stick, batters a header onto the upright.
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68 min: Onana’s first contribution is to hold off Kübler and draw a free kick. The set piece is worked down the right, where McGinn crosses, looking for Watkins. Atubolu, who has done nothing wrong tonight yet has conceded three times in the biggest match of his life, claims with safe hands. Sport is cruel sometimes.
66 min: Lindelof gets himself out of a tight spot with an elegant drag-back and spin. It’s a fine way for him to exit the stage, his last act before he’s replaced by Onana.
65 min: Treu’s loose backpass nearly allows Watkins in. Atubolu races out of his box to bash clear and save the day. “Cats need relaxing activity toys as well as food,” notes Scott Blair, before offering: “Scratching Pole Calmer.”
63 min: Manzambi throws long from the left. Watkins batters the ball clear. Martínez’s sore finger hasn’t been tested at all.
62 min: Freiburg replace Leinhart and Höfler with Höler and Rosenfelder.
60 min: Freiburg look stunned. They were arguably the better team for the majority of the first half, even if they didn’t really create much. But then Villa exploded into life, and they’ve been swept aside mercilessly. What a performance this is from Villa!
GOAL! Freiburg 0-3 Aston Villa (Rogers 58)
McGinn sends Buendia into space down the left. Buendia sees off Kübler with a jink and a drop of the shoulder, before sending a low cross to the near post. Rogers gets in ahead of Leinhart and pokes into the bottom left. A brilliant poacher’s goal! And a lovely assist.
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57 min: Freiburg stroke it around the back, but Villa hold their shape and there’s no way through. Manzambi eventually sends a pass down the right that’s easy for Torres to shepherd out for a goal kick.
55 min: A throw comes into the Villa box from the right. There’s a bit of a scramble, and Torres hoicks clear before one of the three red shirts nearby can take a shy at goal from close range.
54 min: A free kick for Villa in a central position, 35 yards out. Tielemans shovels it down the middle, and Watkins, the ball dropping over his shoulder, extends a leg in an attempt to divert the ball into the bottom left. He connects, but only just, and the ball dribbles wide left.
52 min: Manzambi dribbles across the face of the box, left to right, but opts against shooting. The ball ends up with Ginter on the right. He swings a low cross into the middle, but with nobody in red making a run, that’s easy for Martinez.
50 min: Buendia breaks into a little space down the inside-right channel and enters the box. He spots Atubolu off his line, so tries to dig out a chip towards the top left. It’s on target, but not with enough oomph to beat the keeper, who plucks from the air. Shame, because that would have been peach number three.
48 min: Kübler tries to latch onto a long pass down the right. Martinez comes right to the edge of his box to intercept, then slides out of his area, but lets go of the ball in time. And then the flag goes up anyway. But Villa hearts were in mouths for microseconds there.
47 min: Villa are on the front foot immediately. A couple of positive drives. Unai Emery has clearly told his men that this isn’t over yet, but could be soon if they get another in short order. “Surely Charles Antaki means ‘the only Polish player (Cash has 25 caps for Poland) whose spoonerism would work as a marketing name for feline cat food’,” begins Edward Ricketts. “Although I must confess I haven’t checked if Mateusz Caszinski works in this respect.”
Freiburg get the second half started. No changes. “Until Tielemans’ goal, I thought Freiburg was doing a good job of keeping Villa to half-chances,” writes Kári Tulinius. “However, the German side didn’t create much at the other end. They’ll have to change their approach and push for goals, and that’s dangerous against an Emery team. This could get ugly, unless Freiburg have a bit of luck.”
Half-time postbag. “Our Belgian commentators saw what was happening for that first goal way before the camera operator did. And whilst I was thinking what a waste of a corner. Just goes to show how much some of us underestimate Emery and Villa” – Paulo Biriani
“Bit of a tough pill to swallow, conceding two goals just before the break, but Schuster and the Freiburg players should be pleased with the performance if not the scoreline. Worth keeping in mind that they have players such as Grifo and Manzambi who are capable of producing moments of magic just like Tielemans and Buendia. Still another 45 and a lot can happen!” – Daniel Halladay
“Mention of last year’s Villa-Bayern CL group match reminds me that I haven’t heard about Jhon Duran in a while. His sale and Douglas Luiz the year before look like Villa getting peak value” – G Salorio
“Arsenal fans can look on this game with benign sporting interest, happy to let the better team win and so on, an even willing to ignore the presence of Emi Martinez. But the neutral’s mind does wander. I note, for example, that in Matty Cash, Villa have probably the only English player whose spoonerism would work as a marketing name for feline cat food” – Charles Antaki
HALF TIME: Freiburg 0-2 Aston Villa
You’ll do well to see two better goals in a European final than those. Villa, halfway to glory, positively float down the tunnel!
GOAL! Freiburg 0-2 Aston Villa (Buendia 45+3)
McGinn crosses from the right. Konsa can’t get a header on target. Freiburg only half clear, and Villa recycle the ball. It’s McGinn again, and he rolls a pass in from the right flank. Buendia takes a touch, spinning and stepping infield before stroking an unstoppable shot with the inside of his boot, across Atubola and into the top left! That is sheer magnificence!
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45 min +2: … Konsa tries to poke home from the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. The ball’s deflected wide for another corner, which leads to another corner, which leads to …
45 min +1: … Martinez claims and bowls Tielemans away on the counter. He finds McGinn, who takes a shot from a tight angle on the left. It’s deflected. Another corner, from which …
45 min: Manzambi crosses long from the right. Treu wins a corner off Cash at the far stick. And from that …
43 min: That was clearly a corner routine worked out on the training ground. What a lovely cross by Rogers, finding the in-rushing Tielemans in a pocket of space – his team-mates creating that pocket by gently ushering all of the defenders away - and what a finish! Of a higher standard than Peter Withe’s shinner off the post, that’s fair to say. But hey, they all count, and a legend’s a legend’s a legend.
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GOAL! Freiburg 0-1 Aston Villa (Tielemans 41)
Digne plays the corner back up the left flank. The ball’s sent into the middle by Rogers. It drops to Tielemans, racing down the inside-right channel. Tielemans meets it, just to the right of the penalty spot, and creams a volley across Atubolu and into the bottom left! What a stunning goal!
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41 min: Rogers, Buendia and Digne combine down the left to win a corner for Villa. Digne to take.
39 min: Manzambi dribbles elegantly down the left and reaches the byline, leaving Lindelof in a cloud of dust with a stepover and shimmy. But he absolutely larrups a low cross through the six-yard box, the ball travelling so fast that nobody in red can react in time. Villa, and Lindelof, get away with one.
37 min: … but his delivery is too long and Buendia heads clear. Villa break, Watkins finding McGinn down the inside left with a clever reverse pass. McGinn takes an immediate touch infield, before shooting for the bottom left from the edge of the D. Lienhart blocks bravely, and Watkins isn’t able to do anything with the rebound. Villa carrying a threat for the first time in a wee while.
36 min: Lindelof catches Manzambi as the attacker turns, giving him a sore one on the knee. Manzambi requires a bit of treatment but eventually is hauled back to his feet. Grifo to send the resulting free kick into the mixer from the left …
34 min: Manzambi finds himself in a pocket of space, 25 yards out. His low shot, towards the bottom left, is easy for Martinez. Villa go up the other end, Watkins embarking on a baroque ramble down the inside-right channel, but he attracts one defender too many, and can’t break into the box.
32 min: Freiburg coach Julian Schuster, his side holding their own against the pre-match favourites, stands impassively, arms folded. Unai Emery is frowning quite a lot, by contrast, brain no doubt whirring.
30 min: Cash tries to get something going with a long cross from the right. Rogers can’t win a header at the far stick. “I agree with Richard Hirst from the pre-match postbag,” begins Rob Lewis. “I remember supporting all the other English teams in the 1980s. But as you say, it’s not as simple these days. For instance, as a West Ham fan I feel conflicted about this Villa team. I happen to live in Besiktas and one of my neighbours Jamieson is a massive Villa fan. But after their capitulation to Spurs of a couple of weeks ago, well, you know what I mean. By the way, one of your correspondents referred to the Bosphorus - which is a strait - as a river. Tut tut.”
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29 min: The tempo drops and the game slips into European Final Mode. Not much going on.
27 min: Manzambi looks for Matanović down the left but overcooks the pass. Goal kick.
25 min: Villa have seen 61 percent of the ball so far. But it feels like the match is tilting in Freiburg’s direction now. “John McGinn is a cracking player,” writes Stephen McCrossan. “My team Celtic ‘nearly’ signed him before he went to Villa but for some reason he turned down the Celtic board’s offer of some Amazon vouchers and a discount on Celtic merch. Apart from the godlike Kenny Dalglish, McGinn is clearly the greatest exponent of the use of the arse in football.”
23 min: VAR is anyone’s guess these days, and this time doesn’t bother getting involved. Cash gets away with it. His studs caught Grifo well up the leg. Not with too much force, which is probably what saved him. But as we say, it’s anyone’s guess. Grifo gets up after some attention from the physio, and the resulting free kick is a waste of time.
21 min: Cash flies in late on Grifo and high-kicks him, studs on shin. He’s booked. That wasn’t a good challenge at all. He might be fortunate to avoid some further attention from the VAR.
19 min: Tielemans plays a defence-splitter down the middle. The only problem is, Buendia and Watkins leave it to each other. Keeper’s!
17 min: … so it’s another free kick from the same place out on the right. Again it’s half cleared. This time the ball drops to Höfler, who drags a poor shot from the edge of the box wide right. Villa are fortunate Ginter couldn’t get a touch on the ball to divert it goalwards.
15 min: Digne grapples Manzambi to the floor, and is fortunate not to see yellow, given what happened earlier to Treu. The free kick is sent into the Villa box from the right and cleared. Buendia competes for a high ball with Beste, who goes down having caught a trailing arm in the mush. Buendia goes into the book.
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13 min: “It’s 13/15 on the quiz for me, Scott,” reports Simon McMahon. “If Villa don’t do it tonight, I’m sure that will at least be of some comfort to them and their fans. They’ve got ‘Super’ John McGinn, though, so I think it’ll be celebrations all round come full time.”
… and to illustrate that, McGinn, dropping deep to quarterback, spins and sprays a fine pass down the left to release Watkins into acres of space. It’s a shame Watkins’ attempted cutback goes nowhere near a white shirt. Freiburg clear.
11 min: Emi Martinez and his finger have outlasted Jimmy Rimmer by a good two minutes and counting.
10 min: Lindelof plays a cute pass down the inside-left channel for Rogers, who takes a touch infield and curls a shot towards the top right. Just wide, but not by much, and Atubolu was backpedaling in a panic there.
9 min: Höfler slightly scuffs a backpass down the Villa left, nearly letting Watkins in. Atubolu is forced to rush to the edge of his box and blooter out for a throw. From which …
7 min: Now it’s Freiburg’s turn to go long. Grifo launches long, and Matanović barges into Konsa. The whistle goes. This game already feels like it’s got goals in it.
5 min: McGinn spins Treu down the right touchline, and is crudely rugby-tackled around the waist by the Freiburg left-back. Treu becomes the first name in the referee’s notebook. “Thanks for sharing David Lacey’s write-up of the 1982 final,” begins Alex Adams. “Wonderfully old-school Graun, right down to only having to wait until the sixth word for a typo. Lovely stuff.” We aim to plese.
3 min: Watkins chases after a long ball down the middle. He takes it down and, after a bit of a grapple, gets the better of Lienhart. He’s clear … but he then tops his shot, the ball rolling softly into the arms of Atubolu. And then the flag goes up for offside anyway.
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2 min: Now it’s Villa’s turn to attack, and Rogers is sent into space down the right by Tielemans. He creams a low diagonal drive towards the bottom left, and Atubolu gets down to parry clear with a strong hand.
Aston Villa get the ball rolling … and are quickly pushed back by Freiburg, a ball coming in from the right, Matanović flashing a header wide. The German side making it immediately known that they don’t intend to just make up the numbers.
The teams are out! Freiburg are the home team for administrative purposes, so they get to wear their first-choice European kit of red. That means Aston Villa will play in white. Which is exactly what they wore against the red-shirted Bayern Munich in 1982. The good omens just keep on coming. A sensational atmosphere at Beşiktaş Park in Istanbul as Vincenzo Grifo and John McGinn swap pennants and pleasantries. Not long now!
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Unai Emery speaks to TNT Sports: “Definitely very normal routine [today] … analyse our performance … analyse our opponent … respect them a lot … now we focus … everywhere the fans travel with us … today is a special day for them … we do this for them … they enjoy it with heart … respect Europe … respect the opponent … completely focus in our game-plan … our personality … our identity … the players in the bench must have a good impact … we have options.”
… and hopefully we won’t have to reference Jimmy Rimmer again this evening. Here’s Ben Fisher …
The teams have just been read aloud and Emi Martinez’s name was the first to receive a massive cheer. At the end of the team news, Unai Emery’s name is also given a huge reception.
David Lacey – one of the genuine greats of sportswriting - was in Rotterdam to see Villa win the aforementioned 1982 European Cup final. Here’s his report, in glorious new-fangled click-o-vision. (Thanks to the Guardian Research Department for sorting!)
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Pre-match postbag. “Villa fan at the stadium. Both sets of fans have been fantastic. Brilliant venue on the river (apart from the capacity). Dying of nerves. Just win. They’re good. We should be better but in a one-off game we’ve proven to be brilliant and … v Spurs. I hope this is a stop in the journey up with Unai but being a Villa fan you always have that fear” – David Bertram
“It’s the edge of the Black Forest versus the gateway to the Black Country, the Breisgauern against the Brummies, Germany’s eco-friendly Green City facing England’s Second City! Breisgau-Brum Bash by the Bosphorus!” – Peter Oh (but you’d guessed that already, hadn’t you)
“The quiz about English teams in European finals led me to reflect. As a boy/teenager I supported every English team in a European final - yes, even Man Utd in 1968. Now, not so much: in fact I’m not sure I want any of the English teams playing over the next few days to win. Is that because
(a) I’m bitter because my team has never won anything, so I don’t want other English teams to win? Probably.
(b) supporting a team for so many years means you build up grievances against virtually every other team (don’t get me started on Derby 1983)? Almost certainly.
(c) have I just become a grumpy old curmudgeon? Let’s not go there.
Has anyone else observed this phenomenon?” - Richard Hirst
Jimmy Rimmer de nos jours latest. “Martinez has gone down the tunnel,” reports Ben Fisher. “The other GKs are still warming up, though GKs usually head in early, don’t they?”
Hmm. So much for that panic being over.
Villa have form for goalkeeper woes in European finals. Jimmy Rimmer went into the 1982 European Cup final with a sore neck, having taken a whack in training a couple of days before the match. He lasted nine minutes before giving way to 23-year-old substitute goalie Nigel Spink, who went on to have the match of his life. So all won’t be lost should the worst happen to Martinez …
… though our man on the spot, Ben Fisher, has just reported that “the glove is now back on and he’s practising claiming crosses from coaches and the other goalkeepers.” So panic over, for now at least.
Some concerning news for Villa, as keeper Emi Martinez appears to have a problem with his right hand. Our man in Istanbul, Ben Fisher, reports.
Emi Martinez may have an issue here: Villa’s goalkeeping coach, Javi Garcia, has just spent the past couple of minutes taping one of Martinez’s fingers and now the Argentinian World Cup winner is continuing to warm up with his right goalie glove in his left hand. He looks very mobile, but it doesn’t seem ideal.
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This is the first time Aston Villa and Freiburg have met. Precedent enthusiasts must therefore look to previous matches against teams from the opponents’ country. Villa have won their last two meetings against teams from Germany, having beaten Bayern Munich and Leipzig during the group phase of last season’s Champions League. And of course they’ll always have Rotterdam, where they saw off Bayern in the 1982 final. As for Freiburg, they’ve played four matches against English opposition … and all of them were against West Ham in the 2023-24 Europa League! They went down 1-2 and 0-2 in the groups, won the first leg of a round-of-16 tie 1-0, then lost the second leg 0-5. So it’s advantage Villa.
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… so that’s the same Villa XI that started the second-leg win over Nottingham Forest, and last Friday’s evisceration of Liverpool. Not a huge surprise: Villa scored four goals in both of those matches. Viktor Lindelof keeps his place in midfield, and that keeps Amadou Onana on the bench.
The teams
Freiburg: Atubolu, Kübler, Ginter, Lienhart, Treu, Eggestein, Höfler, Beste, Manzambi, Grifo, Matanovic.
Subs: Müller, Huth, Jung, Osterhage, Scherhant, Höler, Irié, Philipp, Günter, Makengo, Rosenfelder, Ogbus.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Lindelof, Rogers, Tielemans, Buendia, McGinn, Watkins.
Subs: Bizot, Wright, Mings, Elliott, Garcia, Abraham, Sancho, Luiz, Maatsen, Onana, Bogarde, Bailey.
Referee: François Letexier (France)
VAR: Jérôme Brisard (France)
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Matty Cash – sporting a lovely tracksuit top with delicious 1982 Villa roundel – speaks to TNT Sports. “Really loud … full of Villans everywhere … really excited … I’m sure they’ll be really loud all night … such a fantastic club … finally got itself back in European football … we’ve got a great opportunity to give the fans what they deserve, a trophy back to Villa Park … we know what a big test it is … we’re playing a really competitive team … we believe in [Unai Emery] … we watched one video today and one last night … it was an hour and a half, though!”
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This is a huge match for Aston Villa all right … but for SC Freiburg, this represents the biggest occasion in the club’s entire 121-year history. Freiburg have never won a major trophy – runners-up in the 2022 German cup final is as close as they’ve come – so simply getting here is a huge achievement for Julian Schuster and his team. Andy Brassell runs the rule over the folk in Aston Villa’s way.
Unai Emery is hoping to make it five wins from six Europa League final appearances tonight. Here’s his story so far.
Q: Do you have time to kill before kick-off?
A: Yes.
Preamble
Aston Villa have won two European trophies in their history. And no we’re not counting the Intertoto Cup. Dignity, my friends, dignity. The first, and quite obviously the most special, is the 1982 European Cup, inspired by Ron Saunders but actually won by Tony Barton and Peter Withe. You can relive, rediscover or just read about that with David Lacey’s match report …
… and Ben Fisher’s nostalgic chat with the players.
A glorious victory that will never get old. Though is it as downright hilarious as their dismantling in the Super Cup the following year of Barcelona, who in the 1980s were a rugged shower of galoots and hoodlums?
No of course it’s not. Glory days. But it’s long past the time Villa had another major European victory to celebrate. Can they turn Istanbul into Astonbul? They’re favourites to beat Freiburg tonight, and it doesn’t harm that their boss, Unai Emery, is also the guvnor of the Europa League, having won it four times already for Sevilla and Villarreal. Can John McGinn join Dennis Mortimer and Ken McNaught in hoisting some continental silver for the Villa? We’ll find out soon enough. Kick-off at Beşiktaş Stadyumu is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
