Aston Villa secured a second European success with a dominant 3-0 victory over Freiburg in the Europa League final, 44 years after their 1982 European Cup triumph. Goals from Youri Tielemans, Emi Buendía and Morgan Rogers sealed a comfortable win that was far more of a procession than a tense affair.
The parallels with the 1982 final against Bayern Munich were evident: Villa wore white against a German side in red, and goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez suffered an early scare after a blow to the hand in the warm-up but was able to continue, unlike Jimmy Rimmer in 1982.
Unai Emery reconfirmed his status as the master of the competition, having now reached six of the last 13 finals with four different teams and won five times. The manager, however, insisted on looking forward rather than dwelling on past achievements.
Tielemans opened the scoring with a set-piece strike four minutes before half-time, with set-piece coach Austin MacPhee credited for creating space. Buendía doubled the lead with a spectacular effort into the top corner, while Rogers added the third after a deft finish from a Buendía pass.
Villa's budget is roughly 2.8 times that of Freiburg, and they were strong favourites, but the victory remains a historic achievement for a club that has not enjoyed significant success in recent decades.
