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Victorious Aston Villa manager Unai Emery kisses the Europa League trophy - Nick Potts/PA
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Unai Emery had argued against the notion that he was the Europa League king but, in front of royalty, he once again took the crown. Never mind the king, Emery was, here in Istanbul, the Emperor.
Prince William was in attendance as his beloved Aston Villa so impressively won their first trophy in 30 long years – when he was just 13 – and their first European trophy since lifting the European Cup in June 1982.
That was a month before William was born and his celebrations were as unbridled and joyous as any Villa fan. They thoroughly deserved this.
“Oh, it must be… Peter Withe,” is no longer the only European soundtrack for Villa. It is Youri Tielemans. And Emiliano Buendia. And Morgan Rogers as Villa simply demolished Freiburg. That is a lot of names to wrap around Villa Park but the achievements warrant it and surely we can expect an added livery to the grand stadium. Heroes all and all joined by their team-mates.
Buendía brilliance
Emiliano Buendía with a beauty to make it 2-0 to Aston Villa just before half-time
TNT Sports & HBO Max pic.twitter.com/sVmWF0Leoa
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 20, 2026
And Emery? What a remarkable manager. It is five times in just 12 years that he has won this trophy (after 2014, 2015 and 2016 with Sevilla and 2021 with Villarreal) and as the England manager Thomas Tuchel said: surely it is now time to name it after him. For Villa it has been decades of hurt. For Emery it has been just the five years.
It also means that the first leg of, potentially, a European clean sweep by Premier League clubs has been achieved. Now over to you, first Crystal Palace and then Arsenal.
It even opens the door for Bournemouth to qualify for the Champions League, a sixth English team, if results go for them in the final weekend. But that can wait. For now it is about Villa and it is about partying. There would be little sleep in this vast, vibrant city. Or back in Birmingham.
Full report to follow...
10:50pm
Unai Emery speaks to TNT Sports
10:37pm
A word from the Prince of Wales
10:36pm
John McGinn speaks to TNT Sports
10:27pm
Change the name of the trophy
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Unai Emery kisses the Unai Emery Cup - Isabel Infantes/Reuters
10:18pm
A very brief word from Ezri Konsa
Now it’s the ubiquitous Sweet Caroline on the PA.
10:15pm
Aston Villa win the 2025-26 Europa League
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John McGinn of Aston Villa becomes the first captain of the club to lift a trophy since Andy Townsend in 1996 - Alex Grimm/Getty Images
10:10pm
John McGinn lifts the Europa League trophy
Prince William raises his phone to record the trophy lift. The younger generation, eh?
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The Prince of Wales and the Villa board enjoy their triumph - Nick Potts/PA
10:09pm
Villa go up for their medals
The injured Boubacar Kamara is among them as is Ross Barkley who wasn’t registered after injury.
10:08pm
Ollie Watkins speaks to TNT Sports
10:06pm
Wild ride
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Emi Martinez gives his manager a ride - Dan Mullan/Getty Images
10:02pm
Youri Tielemans speaks to TNT Sports
09:59pm
Morgan Rogers speaks to TNT Sport
09:57pm
Villa players are in front of their fans
And dancing wildly. Even Harvey Elliott, who has had a year to forget, is bouncing and now has a Europa League winners medal to go with last year’s Premier League winners medal.
Emi Martínez has Unai Emery on his shoulders.
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Unai Emery wins his fifth Europa League - Marc Atkins/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images
09:53pm
Full time: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3
Villa break their 30-year trophy drought, Unai Emery wins his fifth Europa League and Prince William celebrates his team winning their first European trophy since 1982, the year of his birth.
09:51pm
90 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3
You have to love European referees, hand-ball calls apart. One minute of added time signalled.
09:51pm
89 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3
Treu strides down the right from Manzambi’s pass and his cross is closed down by Maatsen, the ball rebounding off him for a throw-in.
09:49pm
87 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3
Scherhant gives Konsa a shove after the Villa defender held on when both were on the floor. Villa free-kick 40 yards out on the left:
Mings → Pau Torres
Douglas Luiz → Tielemans.
09:47pm
85 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3
Rogers tries to force over a cross from the byline on the right and accepts a corner when it is closed down quickly.
09:45pm
83 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3
Smart save by Martinez from Manzambi’s header but the offside flag make sit redundant.
09:44pm
80 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3
Sancho → Buendía
Maatsen → Digne
Both Maatsen and Sancho played in the Champions League final for Dortmund against Real Madeid two years ago and lost 2-0. Maatsen;s mistake helped Real Madrid to double their lead. It’s a happier night here for both.
09:40pm
78 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3
Villa corner on the left, helped on by Buendia to the far post where McGinn meets it and shoots first time, low towards the bottom right corner but Atubolu dives low to grab it and thwart the Scotsman and those who want Villa’s most popular player to bag one for himself.
09:38pm
75 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3
Buendia fluffs a chance to make it 4-0, which would equal Sevilla’s 4-0 trouncng of Middlesbrough 20 years ago. Tielemans plays a terrific pass down the inside-left channel for Buendía who dribbles with pitter-patter feet, sits the keeper down, gives him the eyes to try to sell him a dummy as if aiming for the far post but ends up diddling himself and sticking his shot into the side-netting. Tielemans punches the air in exasperation.
09:35pm
73 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3
Villa are pinging passes around now. They’re strolling around with cigars in their mouths.
Two more Freiburg subs:
Makengo → Kubler
Scherhant → Grifo
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Rogers bags Villa’s third - Dan Mullan/Getty Images
09:32pm
71 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3
McGinn swings the corner beyond the back post and Onana heads it on to the post from the goal-line. He had whitewash on his boots so tight was the angle. Freiburg scramble it behind and from the next corner, this one on the left, they work it short to Tielemans to square it to Cash who crashes a right-foot shot over the bar. Think there might have been a bobble.
09:30pm
68 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3
Watkins is freed down the inside-right, messes up his first touch which nonetheless knocks the ball past Ginter but he doesn’t quite have the pace to drive past him, allowing Ginter to slide back in and turn it behind for a corner.
09:28pm
65 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3
First Villa sub:
Onana ⇢ Lindelof.
It’s a European triumph for Villa but refreshing to hear that their first priority is always local. Hence the rousing chorus of ‘S--- on the City’ resounding around a stadium in Istanbul.
09:26pm
63 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3
Freiburg have done nothing for the last half-hour to trouble Villa or even see if Martínez’s finger is up to snuff.
09:25pm
60 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3
Two Freiburg changes. Too much, too little, too late…
Holer → Lienhart
Rosenfelder → Hofler
09:18pmVideo • Goals
GOAL!
Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 3 (Rogers) Another cracking goal. McGinn’s crossfield pass is met by Digne in his stride. The left-back slips a pass forward to Buendía who faces up Kübler, skitters round him and skims over a cross that Rogers meets with a clever run off the Ginter’s shoulder to turn it in from fairly close range.
09:18pm
55 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 2
Freiburg are trying to commit more players forward and it takes some great anticipation from Pau Torres from a long throw to stop Mantanovic and two team-mates from latching on to it.
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09:15pm
53 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 2
Rogers is a powerful yet sinuous runner and is clipped after beating two men 35 yards out. Tielemans chips the free-kick over the defensive line and Watkins, who had peeled away, lances out his right leg to try to prod a volley when through on goal. But he would have needed to be at least 6 inches taller to connect with any power, scuffing it instead.
09:12pm
Well, it is ‘His Majesty’s Telegraph’ after all…
09:12pm
51 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 2
Buendía reaches into his bag of tricks and tries to chip the keeper with an angled shot on the right. Atubolu backpedals and catches it. Right idea but it needed more loft.
09:10pm
50 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 2
Watkins mugs Hofler on halfway, racing away with the ball and dribbles 30 yards, deciding to shoot before the pursuing pack nabs him and smashes it into Lienhart.
09:09pm
48 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 2
McGinn slides in front of Treu, catches him and Eggestein demands punishment from the referee. He wards a free-kick but no more.
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Prince William celebrates Villa taking the lead
09:06pm
46 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 2
No changes. McGinn chips a long diagonal from right to left and Watkins sprints after it. Kubler eases him off the ball.
09:02pm
Scenes in the press box
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Buendia bends Villa’s second past Atubolu - Stoyan Nenov/REUTERS
08:53pm
Half-time: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 2
It had been quite an even game for 35 minutes and then Villa just accelerated away with two wonderful goals to seize the game. Freiburg may feel they’ve been pickpocketed but it was done with such elan one can’t help but admire it.
Both goals were the product of Villa’s players pinning the Freiburg back four deep in the box, opening the space for the two world-class finishes which should be judged on artistic merit as well as utility.
08:49pmVideo • Goals
GOAL!
Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 2 (Buendia) If anything, that’s better. Buendía receives the ball about 10 yards in from the right touchline, taps the ball past the first defender then wraps his left instep around the ball and bends it in to the top right from 18 yards. The whip on it was extraordinary because the ball seemed to be on a trajectory to take it a foot wide but it curled round at the last, giving Atubolu no hope.
Buendía brilliance
Emiliano Buendía with a beauty to make it 2-0 to Aston Villa just before half-time
TNT Sports & HBO Max pic.twitter.com/sVmWF0Leoa
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 20, 2026
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08:49pm
45+2 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 1
From the corner Tielemans works the ball through to the back post where Konsa, claiming he was held, has to telescope out a leg to shoot but can’t force his effort on target.
08:48pm
45+1 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 1
Corners at both ends and Freiburg are forced to keep five back by Villa posting four men on halfway. Which means that when the cross comes in Martínez is under virtually no pressure to catch it. He releases quickly and Villa pour forward on the break to earn one of their own.
08:46pm
45 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 1
As good a volley as you’ll see.
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08:42pmVideo • Goals
GOAL!
Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 1 (Tielemans) What a goal! An absolute pearler. Digne’s cross was turned behind by Kubler to stop it reaching Watkins. From the corner, which Villa played short, the ball is chipped to the right of the D from Rogers on the left and Tielemans meets it with superb technique, putting his laces through a volley and it screams past the defenders and into the bottom left.
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08:42pm
41 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Manzambi roasts Lindelof on the Villa right, gets to the byline and wafts a cross through the six-yard box that was screaming out for a touch from a red shirt but Matanovic didn’t buy a ticket.
08:40pm
39 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Villa break from defending that free-kick. Tielemans header sets Villa off on a break and Rogers plays an excellent reverse pass, heavily disguised, to Buendia down the inside left. He fizzes a pass to McGinn who shoots first time but straight into Lienhart. Excellent block.
08:38pm
37 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Lindelof clips Manzambi from behind and gives Grifo another dead ball opportunity that comes to nothing.
08:37pm
35 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Watkins controls a pass, back to goal, on the 18-yard line. He tries to jink and trick his way past Treu, Lienhart and Hofler who stick to their task, watch the ball and force him up a cul de sac.
08:35pm
33 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Manzambi wins the ball from Tielemans and receives a pass back from Matanovic 30 yards out. He takes on the early shot after taking a couple of strides. The ball swerves and dips just in front of Martinez who, nonetheless, pulls off a good save low to his right.
08:33pm
31 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
That’s better: Cash plays a one-two with Watkins after being played down the line by McGinn then tries to arc a cross with the outside of his right boot to Rogers advancing towards the back post. The ball drifts invitingly but Ginter gets the crown of his head at the apex of his jump on it to steer it away and Rogers is penalised for a push on Kubler who was trying to shield the ball and stop it going out for a corner.
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Tension mounts - Alex Livesey /Aston Villa FC via Getty Images
08:30pm
29 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Linedlof jumps ahead of Matanovic to try to trap the ball with his chest but hits the deck when shoved, mid-air, by Matanovic.
08:29pm
27 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Now Manzambi overhits a long ball and Martinez lets it bounce out for a goal-kick.
08:28pm
25 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Both sides are knocking long balls. Villa catch Matanovic in their offside trap. Martinez’s 80-yard launch skips beyond Watkins and is gathered by Atubolu.
08:26pm
23 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Villa see off the free-kick comfortably and moments later Martinez goes for a route one ball right up the middle. Watkins tussles for it in the D and comes off worst in a strong challenge with Treu.
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08:23pm
21 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
‘You’re not fit to referee,’ sing the Villa fans, erroneously after Cash is booked for catching Grifo just below the knee with all six studs as he lanced out a leg, won the ball but followed through. A yellow card all day, every day. Even the benign Ally McCoist revises his initial opinion and says. ‘Naughtier than I first thought.’
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Ginter stops the ball reaching Watkins - Khalil Hamra/AP
08:19pm
18 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
The cross is bent in from the right. Pau Torres, retreating and under pressure from the spin Grifo put on it, heads it back to the edge of the box. Hofler gets his knee over it but his connection is poor and he scuffs it wide of the right post on the volley. Good chance.
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08:17pm
16 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Digne manhandles Manzambi who managed to wiggle in front of him and hold him off. The Villa left-back holds him to stop him bursting away. The free-kick is headed away and the ball comes back to Beste who is clotheslined by Buendía’s outstretched right arm across the Adam’s apple. Free-kick and a booking for the Argentine No 10.
08:15pm
13 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Villa seem to be targeting the inside-left channel between Kubler and Ginter. Buendía and Rogers keep switching positions, sniping in and out. And the passes, whether long diagonals or shorter pings keep probing that gap.
08:13pm
11 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
We’ve just seen Lindelof excelling in a forward role but now he’s back in the old right-half position to stop Manzambi picking out Matanovic’s run.
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08:11pm
9 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Cute pass from Lindelof from a Villa throw-in on the left parallel with the 18-yard line sends Rogers down the inside-left channel.Rogers opens his body and whistles a curling shot inches wide of the top right corner.
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Rogers hammers a shot towards the bottom left in the second minute - Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
08:08pm
7 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Early yellow card for the Freiburg left-back Treu. McGinn had employed his snake-hips to twist away from Treu who grabbed him round the waist to stop him running free.
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08:07pm
5 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Watkins seems to have the strength to spin Lienhart and turns to shoot but scrapes the top of the ball with his studs as he stretched for it which takes all the power out of his effort, making it an easy save for Atubolu. Wouldn’t have counted as the offside flag goes up once Atubolu had saved it.
08:05pm
3 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Lightning start and now Rogers finds some space in the Freiburg box, turns and hammers a shot that Atubolu, the Germany U21 keeper, dives low to his right to bat away with a very firm wrist.
08:04pm
1 min: Freiburg 0 Aston Villa 0
Quick start by Freiburg who push Villa on to the back foot and Matanovic gets on the end of a right-wing cross but steers it wide.
08:01pm
Prince William takes his seat
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The Prince of Wales watches Villa in their first European final since the year of his birth - Kemal Aslan/REUTERS
07:59pm
In at No 1
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Martínez is starting for Villa. Unai Emery will be praying that he’s OK and doesn’t feel anything during the game.
07:58pm
Out come the teams
Freiburg are in a special Europa League final kit of all red. Villa are in white with a hint of imperial purple.
07:56pm
More choreography, this time in the stands
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Claret and blue at the top, Freiburg roten beneath - ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP
07:54pm
Does every final require an opening ceremony?
I’m afraid it does. Some big club badge choreography proceeds for a few minutes with dancers in half and half mufti, black and orange, for the competition
07:50pm
Almost that time
07:47pm
If it happens again…
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Martínez reminds Marco Bizot of the club’s motto: ‘Prepared’ - Marc Atkins/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images
07:43pm
Unai Emery speaks to TNT Sports
07:39pm
And if you know your history…
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Villa did, of course, lose a goalkeeper in a European final once before. A certain Nigel Spink had to replace Jimmy Rimmer early in the European Cup final in 1982. That didn’t turn out too badly for Villa.
07:31pm
Praise from a predecessor
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07:28pm
Martinez update
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07:26pm
Martinez scare
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A physio takes a look at Martinez’s right hand - Alex Grimm/Getty Images
07:24pm
Freiburg fans have taken to a Besiktas cat
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Cat makes itself at home at training last night - YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images
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A Freiburg fan cuddles up - ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/ AFP via Getty Images
But beware. Back in 2018, Besiktas were fined £28,000 by Uefa when cat stopped play at this stadium
07:13pm
TNT reports that Prince William has been addressing the players in the changing rooms
Prince William arrives at the Europa League final in Istanbul to cheer on his beloved Aston Villa!️
TNT Sports Football pic.twitter.com/Inz7K5XHdh
— Anna (@tokkianami) May 20, 2026
07:11pm
Better than Zidane… according to the song at least
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What better way to prepare for the World Cup than becoming the first Villa captain for 30 years to lift a major trophy - Alex Caparros/Uefa via Getty Images
07:05pm
Match details
The match, at Besiktas Park, kicks off at 8pm BST and is being shown exclusively live on TNT Sports 1. In the US it’s on Paramount+, DAZN, TUDN and in Germany on RTL.
07:03pm
Your teams in black and white
Freiburg Atubolu; Kübler, Ginter, Lienhart, Treu; Eggestein, Hofler; Beste, Manzambi, Grifo; Matanovic.
Substitutes Müller, Huth, Jung, Osterhage, Scherhant, Holer, Irie, Philipp, Gunter, Makengo, Rosenfelder, Ogbus.
Aston Villa Martínez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Lindelof, Tielemans; McGinn, Rogers, Buendía; Watkins.
Substitutes Bizot, Wright, Mings, Elliott, García, Abraham, Sancho, Douglas Luiz, Maatsen, Onana, Bogarde, Bailey.
Referee: François Letexier (France)
06:56pm
Write off Freiburg at your peril
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06:55pm
Freiburg binned Twitter two years ago in disgust at the racism on the platform
So here’s their starting XI in the traditional format:
Atubolu; Kübler, Ginter, Lienhart, Treu; Eggestein, Höfler; Beste, Manzambi, Grifo; Matanovic.
06:48pm
Villa team news
As expected. Lindelof starts in midfield, Onana returns on the bench.
06:46pm
Opta’s stats pack
- Opta has Villa favourites to win the final with a 68 per cent probability of victory for the Midlands club.
- This is only Freiburg’s second-ever major final. Last was in the 2021/22 DFB-Pokal final where they lost to RB Leipzig on penalties. Lukas Kubler, Nicolas Hofler, Vincenzo Grifo, Philipp Lienhart, Lucas Holer all survive from that squad.
- This will be the sixth final Emery will have managed in, matching the tally of Carlo Ancelotti, Sir Alex Ferguson and José Mourinho. Only Giovanni Trapattoni has managed more (7).
- If he wins he will become the first manager to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League with three different clubs.
- Emery has only lost two Europa League games with Villa.
- This is Freiburg’s first European final, they are the 16th German side to feature in one.
- Freiburg’s Vincenzo Grifo has scored or assisted in his last five appearances in the competition.
- Villa beat both German sides they met in the Champions League last season - Bayern Munich (1-0) and RB Leipzig (3-2)
- This is the 11th major final between an English club ad German club. The last was 2012 Champions League final between Chelsea and Bayern Munich. English teams have won eight of the last ten.
06:45pm
Who’s in the house?
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06:43pm
Heads and Tayls
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06:35pm
Matty Cash speaks to TNT Sports
06:29pm
Inside Unai Emery’s meticulous preparation
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Unai Emery is striving to get his hands on this trophy for the fifth time - Stu Forster/Getty Images
06:23pm
Villa’s first trophy in 30 years would mean everything to fans like me
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06:14pm
Freiburg fans arrive early
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STEFANO RELLANDINI/AFP
06:08pm
Freiburg fans in fine fettle before flying in
06:06pm
Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends
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Villa fans enjoy their day out in rainy Istanbul - Murad Sezer/REUTERS
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Fez-tival time for Villa fans - Murad Sezer/REUTERS
06:01pm
From Kensington Palace
06:00pm
‘We can beat anybody’
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Emiliano Martínez is targeting his first trophy with Aston Villa after admitting he could have left the club last summer.
Martínez has insisted he made the “right choice” to stay amid strong interest from Manchester United and clubs in Saudi Arabia, and the Villa showman is now potentially 90 minutes away from lifting silverware.
Signed for £17m from Arsenal in September 2020, Martínez has won the World Cup with Argentina, two Copa Américas, the Finalissima, two Yashin trophies and two best Fifa Men’s Goalkeeper awards but domestic success has eluded him.
His future at Villa appeared uncertain at the end of last season as he completed the lap of appreciation in tears with his family.
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Emi Martínez trained at Besiktas Park last night - BRADLEY SECKER/EPA/Shutterstock
Yet he will face Freiburg in Wednesday’s Europa League final on a mission to write his name into club history and end Villa’s 30-year trophy drought.
“Well, I say goodbye and I cry when I left my family from Argentina to England as well,” Martínez said, in response to his tears in the final home game of last season.
“I am really proud to stay – I made the right choice. Sometimes football can change, managers can come in and go. You know, in football people move around the place. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have full respect for the club.
“I have a commitment with Aston Villa. I will always and forever love this club.
“Listen, I am in a European final and we have got Champions League again with all the circumstances that we have had and battles we have had this year. We are one of the lowest spenders in the Premier League. We have a top coach, a top captain and a decent core of the team. When we stick together and when we fight together, I think that we can beat anybody.”
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Martínez seemed to be saying goodbye to Villa last May - Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images
Martínez always seems to come alive in big pressure games and he is the pantomime villain who loves winding up opponents.
Whatever the importance of the occasion, or the hostility of the environment, he seems to take centre stage and all eyes will be on him in Istanbul on Wednesday.
It has been a remarkable journey for ‘Dibu’, who left Argentina to join Arsenal at the age of 17.
His path to the top was not easy, with loan spells at Oxford, Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham, Getafe and Reading as he fought to become a No 1.
“Even though I won the World Cup and a few titles with the national team, I still think about that young kid who left Argentina to save his family from poverty,” he said.
“One day I am going to retire, so someone else will need to be between the sticks. For Villa fans, when you meet them in Birmingham, they say:‘I’ve never seen Villa in a European final, never seen Villa lifting a trophy.’
“So I have the same mindset as I went into that first Copa América with Argentina. With that anger, with that belief and confidence that I can do it. I believe in my team and myself.”
05:46pm
Betting on this evening’s game?
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05:25pm
Preview: Thirty years of hurt…
I am sure every Villa fan and many football fans of a certain age can roll these 12 names off their tongue: Rimmer, Spink, Swain, Williams, Evans. McNaught, Mortimer, Bremner, Shaw, Withe, Cowans and Morley. Winning the European Cup bestows a kind of immortality, a least in popular memory and affection. Villa’s heroes of Rotterdam in 1982 will be joined by a new generation tonight should Unai Emery win his fifth Europa League and his club their first serious trophy of any kind for 30 years. No, we’re not counting the Intertoto Cup. Any tournament that ends with three winners cannot claim to be serious, as nice a bauble as it was for Darius Vassell and co in 2001.
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Captain Dennis Mortimer, manager Tony Barton and matchwinner Peter Withe with the European Cup at De Kuip in 1982 - Peter Robinson/PA
Standing between Villa and glory are SC Freiburg, the club from the beautiful, deep south-west of Germany who have made themselves Bundesliga stalwarts, spending 16 of the past 17 seasons in the top-flight and establishing themselves in the upper echelons with finishes of 6th, 5th, 10th, 5th and 7th in the last five seasons. They are very well run: solvent, stable and ambitious. This is only the second major final in their history, having lost the German Cup final in 2022 when they were beaten by RB Leipzig on penalties.
They have won all seven of their home games in the Europa League this season and saw off Genk, Celta Vigo and Braga to make it to tonight’s final at Besiktas Stadium. You may remember them playing West Ham four times in this competition in 2023-24, losing both group stage games under the old format before winning 1-0 at home in the Round of 16 then suffering a 5-0 Hammering in which Mohammed Kudus scored a breathtaking goal. Sadly, for them, their best player, Yuito Suzuki, has broken his collarbone and is unavailable but Vincenzo Grifo, their playmaker and all-time leading scorer, and the 6ft 5in Croatia centre-forward, Igor Matanovic, are very handy.
Villa have scored 28 goals so far in the competition, knocking out Lille 3-0 on aggregate in the R16, Bologna 7-1 in the quarter-final and Nottingham Forest 4-1 in the semi. They will be roared on tonight by their most famous fan,
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