Aston Villa is the champion of the Europa League 2025/26. With Argentine Emiliano Buendía as one of the standout players in the final in Istanbul, the Villans convincingly defeated Freiburg by 3 to 0 and lifted a new title after 25 years of drought.
At the start of the match, the Villans were clearly the protagonists, with several dangerous chances, including a great shot from Morgan Rogers in the 3rd minute saved by goalkeeper Noah Atubolu and another shot from Rogers shortly after that went high to the right. For their part, the German team only managed to create their first chance a quarter of an hour in with a shot from Nicolas Höfler that went just wide.
One of the main characteristics of the first half of the great final was the frictional play of both teams and the early yellow cards, with two for Aston Villa (Buendía and Cash) and one for Freiburg (Treu) in just 20 minutes played.
In that sense, it wasn't until the 34th minute that there was another notable situation, when the Germans had a new opportunity to break the deadlock: Swiss Johan Mazambi tried from outside the box, but his shot ended up in the hands of Dibu Martínez. However, it would not be them who managed to change the score, as shortly after, following an excellent set play from the corner, Youri Tielemans unleashed a first-time right-footed shot to make it 1-0.
And the Birmingham side would not be satisfied with just that. In stoppage time, Argentine Emiliano Buendía unleashed a powerful curling shot from outside the box to extend the lead to two goals before halftime.
In the second half, although Freiburg would show a bit more focus on attack, it would be Aston Villa that created more chances to add another goal, which would come in the 57th minute. Frenchman Lucas Digne sent a long pass to Buendía, who, after a feint in the box, assisted Rogers to tap it in and score the 3-0 lead.
Clearly defeated by the score and the flow of the match, the German team had few dangerous approaches to Dibu Martínez's goal. On the other hand, although they would lower their intensity a bit, Unai Emery's side would be close to a fourth goal. In the 70th minute, Amadou Onana had a header, but the left post denied him, in the 73rd Buendía would find himself one-on-one inside the box with Atubolu, but would finish poorly, and in the 78th, John McGinn shot from distance, but the German goalkeeper deflected it to a corner.
In the final stretch of the match, the actions would stagnate for both teams and, although Freiburg would seek to reduce the deficit through crosses into the box, none would be effective and the score would not change: Aston Villa champions of the Europa League.
With this title, the Villans were crowned for the first time in the Europa League and ended a 25-year drought without titles (the last being the Intertoto 2001). Additionally, this new title represents their fourth international cup and their 24th star in total. For his part, Dibu Martínez won his first trophy with the English team and reached 11 in his career (7 at the club level and 4 with the Argentine National Team), while his namesake and compatriot Buendía had his first achievement in a top division team.
