UEFA Europa League Final Preview: SC Freiburg vs. Aston Villa
UEFA Europa League Final Preview: SC Freiburg vs. Aston Villa Freiburg are one game away from winning their first major trophy as they face Aston Villa in Wednesday's Europa League final. Julian Schuster’s side concluded their Bundesliga season by qualifying for the Europa Conference League with a big win over third-placed RB Leipzig.
Winning the Europa League will promote them to the Champions League, which would seal a first-ever participation in Europe's premium competition. Meanwhile, Aston Villa already secured their return to Champions League football after a dominant victory against last season's Premier League winners Liverpool on Friday. Unai Emery's men knocked out fellow English club and former European Cup winners Nottingham Forest in the semi-final with an equally dominant display at Villa Park.
The Spaniard coach has previously won this competition four times. The first three came in succession in the mid-2010s with the Europa League specialists Sevilla before repeating the feat in his debut season at Villarreal in 2020/21. Emery's successful spell at Aston Villa only lacks silverware.
After winning promotion in 2021, the club finished in the bottom half in their first three seasons back in the Premier League. When the former PSG and Arsenal coach took over the helm from Steven Gerrard, they had only two wins from the first 11 games of the 2022/23 campaign. Including that time, Villa maintained their record of European qualifications at the end of every season with the 54-year-old in charge.
The 1982-83 European Cup winners lost all major domestic cup finals they contested in the 21st century. The story is similar for Freiburg as they were on the losing end of their first-ever showdown. A penalty shootout defeat to RB Leipzig denied them the 2021-22 DFB-Pokal triumph.