Villa turn on the style to beat Freiburg in Europa League final
Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers (R) celebrates scoring their side's third goal with teammate Ollie Watkins during the UEFA Europa League final soccer match between SC Freiburg and Aston Villa at Besiktas Stadium. Mustafa Alkac/dpa Classy Aston Villa lifted their first major European trophy since 1982 by beating Germany's Freiburg 3-0 on Wednesday to win the Europa League. Villa, European champions 44 years ago, had not won any major competition since the English League Cup in 1996.
Their coach Unai Emery, in contrast, has now racked up five Europa League titles after winning three with Sevilla and one with Villarreal. A superb volley by midfielder Youri Tielemans on 41 minutes and an equally special curler from Emiliano Buendía soon afterwards had the Premier League side 2-0 up at the break. Buendía's clever cross was then converted at the near post by Morgan Rogers just before the hour mark at a rocking Beşiktaş stadium.
Freiburg had never clinched a major honour and fell short in their first European final. The Black Forest side's defeat means they miss out on a first Champions League qualification and will go into the Conference League having finished seventh in the Bundesliga. Villa had already guaranteed a Champions League place via the Premier League given the English top flight has five berths for Europe's top club competition next term because of UEFA co-efficients.
If Birmingham-based Villa drop from fourth to fifth on the Premier League final day on Sunday, sixth place in the Premier League - currently Bournemouth - will also go into the Champions League. Six of Villa's starting XI also began in Emery's Villa debut three-and-a-half-years ago, including Argentina World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emi Martinez, who shrugged off a finger injury to play. Centre back Victor Lindelöf started in midfield.
Höfler retires on a downer Freiburg boss Julian Schuster picked the same team that eliminated Braga in the semi-final second leg, with 36-year-old Nicolas Höfler starting in midfield in his final game before retirement. Early on, Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu leapt like the cat that had been prowling around the stadium to push away Roger's effort. Höfler then fired just wide amid a feverish atmosphere and Villa's Matty Cash was booked for a risky challenge on Vincenzo Grifo.