Aston Villa have won the Europa League, ending their 44-year wait for a European trophy; Villa beat Freiburg 3-0, keeping a clean sheet despite Emiliano Martinez breaking his finger in the warm-up; Villa squad had beers with Prince William after the game – and want the Champions League.
It was a night that Aston Villa fans will never forget. A first trophy in 30 years, and their 1982 European conquerors have some competition.Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendia and Morgan Rogers were the goalscoring heroes in Istanbul, as Villa beat Freiburg 3-0 in comfortable fashion.
After 30 years of waiting for a major trophy, Aston Villa secured a clinical 3–0 victory over Freiburg in the 2025–26 Europa League final on Wednesday evening.
From the start of the competition back in September, the Villans were the favorites to win Europe’s second-most prestigious club competition.
They entered the final with the same pressure, expected to comfortably dispatch their Bundesliga opponents, especially after clinching a top- five Premier League finish at the weekend.
Youri Tielemans, Emi Buendia and England international Morgan Rogers scored the goals in a 3-0 win to ensure Villa claimed their first major trophy in 30 years and a first European title since 1982.
The result means Villa manager, Unai Emery, has now won the Europa League a record five times, having previously lifted the trophy on three occasions with Sevilla and once with Villarreal.
But perhaps the most heroic action of the night came from goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez – who broke his finger during the warm-ups – but still carried on to play the game, and keep a clean sheet.
“Today I broke my finger during warm-ups, but I didn’t see it as a bad thing,” said Martinez after the game.
“I’ve never broken a finger before and every time I tried to catch the ball, the finger would just slip away in the other direction.
“But, these are just things you have to go through.”
Martinez was forced into two saves with his broken finger, though Freiburg only mustered an overall Expected Goals tally of 0.24. So while the Argentine was heroic in playing on while injured, he was hardly tested.
The Villa goalkeeper has, however, continued his perfect record in finals – winning all seven of the showpiece matches he has played in during the last six years for club and country.
Emiliano Martinez’s perfect finals
- 2020 – Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea, FA Cup final
- 2020 – Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool (5-4 pens), Community ShieldÂ
- 2021 – Argentina 1-0 Brazil, Copa America final
- 2022 – Argentina 3-3 France (4-2 pens), World Cup final
- 2022 – Argentina 3-0 Italy, FinalissimaÂ
- 2024 – Argentina 1-0 Columbia, Copa America final
That run comes across three different teams – Arsenal, Argentina and now Villa.
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