Aston Villa are the 2025-2026 Europa League Champions after clinching a 3-0 win over Germany’s Freiburg in the final and Villa striker Ollie Watkins attributed the team’s success to manager Unai Emery.
Two late goals in the first half from Youri Tielemans and Emiliano Buendia put Villa in the driver’s seat with the game effectively sealed after Morgan Rogers scored in the 58th minute.
Beating Freiburg to win the title cemented Emery’s reputation as the greatest manager in the competition’s history after winning the title five times and competing in six finals.
He won the competition three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal, both Spanish teams before his latest success with English Premier League side Villa and Watkins praised Emery’s efforts in the title win by stating to TNT Sports,
“Amazing, amazing. To perform like that was unbelievable. I felt like we really controlled the game and we punished them in the end. He-Unai Emery- was really calm today in the build up.”
“Sometimes in league games he’s anxious because he wants to get the win but today he was calm and that set the tone for us boys.”
