Aston Villa ended a 30-year wait for major silverware Wednesday night in Istanbul, beating Freiburg 3-0 in the Europa League final to claim the club's first trophy since the 1996 League Cup. Captain John McGinn lifted the trophy in front of nine members of Villa's 1982 European Cup-winning squad, including that night's captain Dennis Mortimer and goalscorer Peter Withe.
According to a report by Yahoo Sports, manager Unai Emery had promised when he arrived at Villa Park three and a half years ago that he had joined the club to win trophies. Wednesday's result was the fifth Europa League title of his career, extending his own record in the competition and giving him six finals appearances with five wins.
Tielemans opened the scoring by volleying home from a short corner routine. Buendia then curled a shot into the top corner to put Villa firmly in control before halftime. Rogers added a third to complete the victory and set off celebrations on the bench, with Emery captured jumping on the touchline with clenched fists.
Former Villa midfielder Ian Taylor, watching from the press box, leaped from his seat and punched the air when Buendia's goal went in. Taylor scored in the 1996 League Cup win, the last time Villa had lifted silverware before Wednesday.
In his post-match comments, Emery credited everyone around him. "I am thankful to [co-owners] Nassef [Sawiris] and Wes [Edens]... they are supporting always. I am thankful to the supporters and I am thankful for the players," he said. "All the times I am successful in this competition I needed good players. Now I am so thankful for the players, they are following our ambitions. They are protagonists on the field. This is the reason I am not feeling the king in this competition. I am feeling really thankful - we are the kings together."
He also addressed what the trophy means for the club's history. "After 1982 the club won the European Cup, it was something they were missing - the supporters - a trophy. Achieving this one is making us so, so happy but we are not going to stop."
Tielemans, who started the scoring, spoke to TNT after the match. "I feel amazing," he said. "My voice is a bit gone but it's all good. We put in a shift, a top performance, we had a great season. To top it off with this is amazing. It's been a season with a lot of ups and downs. We started so so bad. Our standards were very poor. The way we turned things around was a credit to the players and staff. We kept working, believing. We got the win in the end, Champions League next sea" — the quote cut off there, but Villa's Champions League qualification for next season had already been confirmed.
The parallels to 1982 were hard to miss. As in that European Cup final, Villa wore white and beat a German team in red. That time it was Bayern Munich in Rotterdam. This time it was Freiburg in Istanbul.
Villa officials had needed to organize a trophy parade in Birmingham ahead of time, given the logistical demands on the city. The squad is scheduled to show off the trophy Thursday afternoon.
