Aston Villa win Europa League to lift first trophy since 1996

[p]It is also [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-villa/W00wmLO0/"]Villa[/a]'s first continental trophy since they lifted the European Cup in 1982, etching manager Unai Emery and his team into the club's folklore.[/p][p]It has been another remarkable season for Villa. Emery, who joined the club in 2022, has been working with limited funds yet has managed to secure a top-five finish in the Premier League and win a piece of silverware.[/p][p]Additionally, it is the Spaniard's fifth Europa League triumph, after winning it three times in a row with Sevilla between 2013 and 2016, as well as with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/villarreal/lUatW5jE/"]Villarreal[/a] in 2019.[/p][p]Villa's route to the final included knockout victories over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/lille/pfDZL71o/"]Lille[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bologna/0M9xNN8N/"]Bologna[/a], and fellow Premier League outfit [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nottingham/UsushcZr/"]Nottingham Forest[/a], before finishing the job against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/freiburg/fiEQZ7C7/"]Freiburg[/a]. [/p][embed guid="8992a73b-41dd-4828-8696-0a806e4efa6f" url="https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/2057202563259277585" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mcginn-john/rgGnzD2e/"]John McGinn[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/watkins-ollie/rHnOkDD8/"]Ollie Watkins[/a] are the Villans' top goalscorers in the competition, both bagging five goals. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/buendia-emiliano/dYDvGYIu/"]Buendia[/a] has registered four goals and six assists in 12 appearances, and his goal in the final came in his 150th appearance for the club.[/p][p]In Emery's first full season in charge, he guided Villa into the Champions League with a fourth-place finish, before qualifying for this year's Europa League following a sixth-place finish in 2024/25.[/p][p]They will return to the Champions League for the 2026/27 campaign.[/p][p]As a result of their Europa League triumph, sixth place in the Premier League could be enough to qualify for the Champions League should Villa finish fifth, leaving the door open for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bournemouth/OtpNdwrc/"]Bournemouth[/a] or [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brighton/2XrRecc3/"]Brighton[/a] to sneak into Europe's premier competition.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/aston-villa-W00wmLO0/freiburg-fiEQZ7C7/?mid=IefockNE"]Check out the match report and all the stats from the final here![/a][/b][/p]