Unai Emery has challenged Aston Villa to use their Europa League triumph over Freiburg as the launchpad for an ambitious new chapter after ending the club’s 30-year wait for silverware.
Villa produced a dominant display in Istanbul on Wednesday, defeating Freiburg 3-0 to lift their first major European trophy since the 1982 European Cup.
First-half strikes from Youri Tielemans and Emiliano Buendia put Emery’s side firmly in control before Morgan Rogers sealed the victory after the break at the Besiktas Stadium.
The triumph also marked Villa’s first trophy since winning the League Cup in 1996 and underlined the remarkable transformation overseen by Emery since arriving in 2022.
When the Spaniard replaced Steven Gerrard, Villa were battling near the Premier League relegation zone. Less than three years later, they are Europa League champions and back in the Champions League for next season.
Despite the historic success, Emery insists Villa cannot afford to stand still.
“I am myself ambitious and of course I need support. The owners, everyone that works in the club. Development is everything,” Emery said.
“The players are following us. We are doing it together. But we must try to set this ambition, being clear and realistic. As a team, ambitious and improving. This is our next step.
“We are getting stronger but we are trying to be demanding. Next year we will play in the Champions League and the Premier League is the most difficult in the world. This is the challenge.”
The victory further strengthened Emery’s legendary status in European competition. The Villa boss has now won the Europa League five times, having previously lifted the trophy three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal.
“It’s fantastic. Europe gave us a lot. For myself as well. I’m always very grateful for Europe, especially the Europa League,” Emery said.
“The support I had with Valencia, with Sevilla, with Villarreal and here at Villa. We played it in a very serious way this year, so focused.
“Getting this trophy adds experience for us. And those experiences for the players are important because we can play next year trying as well to be in contention for trophies.”
Villa’s famous victory on the banks of the Bosphorus ensured Emery and his squad will forever be remembered alongside the club’s iconic 1982 European Cup-winning side.
Yet the Spaniard made it clear this success is only the beginning.
“This final is confirmation of how we are progressing. It is very important,” he said.
“Of course my dream was to play in Europe and play to win trophies. We played the Conference League semi-final and Champions League quarter-finals. We were very close.
“This club won the European title in 1982. And again competing for a title in Europe is something which makes sense of everything we are doing.”
“We are improving. We are playing finals. We are winning trophies. I think the brand is increasing.
“Achieving this makes us so happy and proud. But we are not going to stop.”
For Freiburg, their first-ever European final ended in disappointment as the German club’s wait for a major trophy continues.
“At this moment, there is no room for satisfaction. We lost the final,” Freiburg manager Julian Schuster said.
“It is, of course, very painful. We believed we could win. In the first half, for the first 40 minutes, everything was fine.
“However, we lost control of the game, specifically due to set pieces. That is very tough to take.”
