Aston Villa ended their 30-year trophy drought in style as the Premier League side thrashed Freiburg 3-0 in the Europa League final on Wednesday.
The king of the competition Unai Emery has his hands on the trophy for a fifth time and this triumph was celebrated wildly by Villa fans – both in the Besiktas Stadium and back at home.
Villa took the lead late in the first half in Istanbul through Youri Tielemans’ thunderous volley.
Emiliano Buendia increased Villa’s advantage with a sublime curler seconds before the interval.
Morgan Rogers’ second-half goal finished off the outclassed Germans, sealing Villa’s first silverware since the 1996 Carabao Cup and their first major European prize for 44 years.
That famous European Cup final upset of Bayern Munich in 1982, secured by Peter Withe’s goal in Rotterdam, has stood as the most iconic moment in Villa’s 152-year history.
Villa’s current stars were determined to follow in the footsteps of the club’s golden generation.
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Tielemans, Buendia, John McGinn and company can share the rarified air previously reserved for Withe, Tony Morley, Dennis Mortimer, Nigel Spink and the rest of the Class of ’82.
Aston Villa’s long-awaited continental conquest was the latest Europa League masterclass for Emery, who has now won the tournament five times after victories with Sevilla in 2014, 2015, and 2016 and Villarreal in 2021.
Emery said this week that he didn’t feel like the “king” of the Europa League, but his team’s coronation got the royal seal of approval from Aston Villa fan Prince William, who was celebrating along with around 20,000 ecstatic supporters in the Besiktas Stadium.
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