Aston Villa’s footballers became the winners of the UEFA European League for the first time. In Wednesday’s final, they beat SC Freiburg 3:0 in Istanbul. The triumph of the Birmingham team was decided at the end of the first half by Youri Tielemans and Emiliano Buendía, in the second act Morgan Rogers prevailed. For Aston Villa, it is the first valuable trophy since 1996, when they won the English League Cup.
The last time she succeeded on the European stage was in 1982 in the EPM final (current Champions League) after the victory over Bayern Munich and subsequently also won the continental Super Cup. Spanish coach Unai Emery has consolidated his position as the most successful manager in the Europa League. He triumphed in the second most prestigious European competition for the fifth time. He previously won it three times with FC Sevilla (2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16) and once with Villarreal (2020/21). For Freiburg, reaching the final was already the best result in the club’s history.
Europa League – Final:
SC FREIBURG – ASTON VILLA FC 0:3 (0:2)
Goals: 41. Tielemans, 45+3. Buendia, 58. Rogers
Judges: Letexier – Mugnier, Rahmouni (all Fr.), ŽK: Buendía, Cash, McGinn – Treu
Lineups and substitutions:
Aston Villa: Martinez – Cash, Torres (88. Mings), Konsa, Digne (81. Maatsen) – Lindelof (66. Onana), Tielemans (88. Luiz) – McGinn, Rogers, Buendia (81. Sancho) – Watkins
Freiburg: Atubolu – Kubler (73. Makengo), Ginter, Lienhart (61. Rosenfelder), Treu – Eggestein, Höfler (61. Holer) – Beste (86. Günter), Manzambi, Grifo (73. Scherhant) – Matanovič
The final duel at the Besiktas stadium had a brisk start. Already in the 1st minute, Igor Matanovič got to the end, but the Freiburg striker’s header lacked accuracy. On the other side, Noah Atubolu had to intervene after Rogers’ shot. In the 18th minute, Freiburg could have taken the lead, but Nicolas Höfler’s shot from a direct kick missed the right post by a few centimeters. Aston Villa’s offense lacked a moment of surprise for a long time, the defense of the Bundesliga team was careful about the gunner Ollie Watkins. However, in the 42nd minute, the Belgian Tielemans got to the ball after a corner and a rehearsed signal, and with a sharp shot to the left post, he beat Atubolu – 1:0. Aston Villa was in the mood and at the end of added time, they increased their lead after the Argentinean Buendia’s shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Freiburg entered the second half with the goal of scoring a contact goal as quickly as possible. His players had the ball under control, but combined far from the opponent’s goal and did not threaten Emiliano Martinez. In the 58th minute, Rogers scored Freiburg’s third goal, taking advantage of Buendía’s pass. Substitute Amadou Onana could add another accurate shot, after his attempt the post rang. Even in front of their big fan Prince William, Aston Villa didn’t let Freiburg do anything and ended their 30-year wait for a trophy.
