Aston Villa are Europa League champions for the first time after a 3-0 win over Freiburg lit up by stunning goals.
It may be Villa’s first triumph in the competition, but it is not for manager Unai Emery, who extends his own record for lifting this trophy.
The victory in Istanbul meant Emery has now won the Europa League five times, after three successes with Sevilla and one with Villarreal.
It was actually a quiet start to the game, with much of the first half passing without action of much note.
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The match looked more likely to produce a red card than a goal in the opening stages as the referee handed out three yellows in the opening 21 minutes.
That was changed in spectacular fashion on 41 minutes, though, as Youri Tielemans volleyed in a stunner.
Villa played a short corner to Morgan Rogers who pinged the ball over to an onrushing Tielemans on the far side of the box and the Belgian met it sweetly first time to hammer home.
Before the break Emiliano Buendia attempted to out-do his teammate with another brilliant hit to make it 2-0.
The Argentina international neatly turned on the edge of the box and curled in a beautiful effort into the far top corner.
After a forgettable 40 minutes, the Villains produced two memorable pieces of brilliance that stunned their German opponents.
Freiburg offered very little to threaten Villa in the second half and the Premier League outfit were purring with confidence after their wonder strikes.
The third goal of the game was not as spectacular, but it was a well-worked move poked home by Morgan Rogers just before the hour-mark.
That ended the match as a contest and the travelling fans from Birmingham sang at great volume all the way to the final whistle, with the title sewn up.
The Villa defence remained largely untroubled with Freiburg managing four shots over the piece to the champion’s 17.
The losing side shaded the possession over the match, though, which illustrated Villa’s willingness to go long regularly, unsettling the Freiburg defence with their surprisingly direct tactics.
It was an Emery masterclass, which brings the Villains success on the continent for the first time in 44 years, since winning the European Cup in 1982.
As Jadon Sancho came off the bench for Villa late on, the on-loan winger created an unusual piece of history.
The England international has now appeared in three different European finals in three seasons with three different clubs.
Sancho finished Champions League runner-up with Borussia Dortmund in 2024, won the Conference League with Chelsea last year and has now become Europa League champion with Aston Villa.