Aston Villa beat Freiburg to win Europa League title

Aston Villa ended a 30-year wait for a trophy by beating Freiburg 3-0 in the Europa League final on Wednesday, securing a record fifth title for manager Unai Emery in the competition. Youri Tielemans and Emiliano Buendia scored brilliant goals in the match.

Morgan Rodgers’ third goal gave Villa their first major trophy since the 1996 English League Cup. It was their first continental title since winning the European Cup against Bayern Munich in 1982.

Aston Villa’s victory is the second consecutive Europa League title for a Premier League club, following Tottenham Hotspur’s triumph last season, and keeps alive the prospect of a rare continental hat-trick, with Arsenal set to reach the Champions League final and Crystal Palace the Conference League final.

“I feel great. We worked hard, we performed well, we had a great season and it couldn’t have ended better,” Tielemans told TNT.

He added, “We only had one day to train, we did that on Monday and it worked out brilliantly tonight. It’s been a season of ups and downs. We started very badly, our standards were very low, but the way we’ve turned things around has been great. Credit to the players and the staff. We just kept working, kept believing and in the end we got the win and the trophy. Next season we’ll be playing in the Champions League.”

Villa took the lead in the 41st minute through a brilliant goal from Tielemans. Rodgers’ extended cross from a short corner found the unguarded Belgian midfielder, whose low volley went into the net.

Buendia doubled the lead with another superb goal seconds before the end of the first half. Freiburg gave Villa plenty of space on the edge of the box, and the Argentine playmaker took advantage of that to curl a left-footed shot that goalkeeper Noah Atubolo had no chance of doing anything about.

Rodgers scored the team’s third goal in the 58th minute. Rodgers slotted the ball into the net at the near post from a low cross from Buendia.

The victory saw Villa manager Emery maintain his impressive record in the competition. He won three titles with Sevilla, one with Villarreal and now his fifth with Aston Villa. Emery now equals the record of five European trophies won by Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho and Giovanni Trapattoni.

Freiburg were hoping to win a first major trophy in their 122-year history, but they rarely threatened Villa’s goal. They managed just four shots to their opponents’ 17, proving to be the second-best on the night.