(Credit: Imago)

Jacob Raw

Wed 20 May 2026 22:30, UK

Unai Emery masterminded another Europa League win, this time with Aston Villa, following a historic 3-0 win over Freiburg on Wednesday.

The Villans survived some early scares from the German side to go ahead through another set-piece, as Youri Tielemans became a cult hero, striking a low effort to give his side the lead.

It wasn’t long before Emi Buendia curled in a beauty in Istanbul to put the Villans 2-0 before the break, as a third from Morgan Rogers added the cherry on the icing on the cake.

Emery has now won his fifth Europa League trophy, but more importantly, it’s Aston Villa’s first European tournament win since 1982.

Villa can call themselves champions, but Villa News picked up three things that you may have missed from the game.

Unai Emery’s title-winning change vs Freiburg

In the early stages of the game, Villa were seen pumping the ball forward, looking to make Freiburg feel uncomfortable.

Though it’s not Ollie Watkins’ domain, the striker did well, and Freiburg’s defence eventually became mentally exhausted, with Tielemans’ stunning strike the start of their downfall.

Ally McCoist picked up on this early into the game, and explained how he was a fan of the change that Emery made.

Ultimately, it proved to be a masterstroke play by the Villa boss, one which sees the Villans take home a long-awaited European trophy.

Aston Villa forced to switch shirt sponsor

Not many Villa fans may have noticed, but Villa were forced into using a different sponsor than Betano, who have featured on all three shirts across the season.

This is because of the licensing laws in Turkey that do not allow front-of-shirt betting sponsors.

Instead, the Villans represented their own partners in the Aston Villa Foundation, which was seen central on their third kit.

Ollie Watkins asked about squad party location

Many Aston Villa players reluctantly gave interviews following the full-time whistle, and Watkins was one of the players to take the microphone.

The striker was asked where the party is taking place after the game, and what the plans are.

Watkins ecstatically replied, “Who knows? Istanbul,” before running off to continue the on-field celebrations.

Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris were also in attendance for the game, and as revealed by Jacob Tanswell on X, even greeted the players before the game started.

Sawiris was seen with a beam as big as every other Villa fan on his face, and joined in with the trophy-lifting antics after the full-time whistle.