Aston Villa Eyes Europa League Glory After Long Ascent from Championship

As Aston Villa arrived at Besiktas Park on the banks of the Bosphorus for their final training session before the Europa League final, the journey from the Championship to this stage was impossible to ignore. Captain John McGinn was part of the side that won promotion via the playoff final seven years ago, and Tyrone Mings also started that day at Wembley. Over the following year, Villa built a core that on Wednesday will be central to their bid for a first major European trophy since 1982.

McGinn reflected on a 3-0 league defeat at Wigan and a midweek trip to Rotherham during the promotion season, acknowledging that losing the playoff final against Derby could have been catastrophic. “If we lose that match, are Aston Villa here at the minute? Probably not,” he said. “For us, tomorrow night, it will be nice to see the supporters who were there at Rotherham away, Wigan away, nights like that on a Tuesday evening when it’s very easy to stay at home. They deserve it just as much as the players do and hopefully we can give them something to remember.”

Ezri Konsa, a consistent performer whom Prince William—an avid Villa fan expected to attend the final—once called a “Rolls-Royce,” joined months after Villa returned to the Premier League. Emiliano Martínez, Ollie Watkins and Matty Cash arrived the following summer. Together, this core has reached a Europa Conference League semifinal, a Champions League quarterfinal and an FA Cup semifinal. On Wednesday, as manager Unai Emery noted, they will be the focus of the footballing world.

McGinn has spoken about shedding the “nearly men” label, and Martínez acknowledged it would be “massive” to win against Freiburg. “We’ve been together for so many years, played so many games together, going from mid-table to the European places, semi-finals and now we’re in the final. I think we deserve it. I think the fans deserve it. And obviously the manager has had five finals and you wouldn’t want anyone else on the bench leading us in a European final.”

Martínez compared Villa’s hunger for a first trophy since the 1996 League Cup to his first Copa América with Argentina in 2021. “I went into my first Copa América without seeing Argentina win a trophy,” said the World Cup winner. “I was 27, 28 years old and this is the same. In Birmingham the Villa fans always say: ‘I’ve never seen Villa in a European final, I’ve never seen Villa lifting a trophy.’ So it’s that same mindset as I went into my first Copa América, with that anger, belief and confidence I can do it. I believe in my team and myself.”

Martínez made his first public comments since attempting to leave the club last summer. A year ago, he cried as he left Villa Park, presuming it would be for the last time. “We are in a European final, in the Champions League again with all the circumstances and the ups and downs, and with the budget we had this year, we were among the lowest spenders in the Premier League,” he said. “Sometimes football can change … when we stick together and fight together we can beat anybody. I am really proud to stay – I made the right choice.”

Villa yearn for a trophy, and as Martínez noted, there is a consensus that Emery represents a managerial superpower. Thomas Tuchel’s comment before Chelsea’s 2021 Super Cup victory over Emery’s Villarreal came to mind: “They can call the [Europa League] trophy the Unai Emery trophy soon.” However, Emery is reluctant to embrace that label.

“I am not a king in this competition,” said the Basque. “I am now here with Aston Villa in a new chapter. And everything I did is done – of course it’s there in that moment but with it I am not winning tomorrow. I need to win with the players we have now, with Villa now. It’s a new way, a new moment and, hopefully, a new era.”

Villa, who could welcome back Amadou Onana from a calf injury after he trained Tuesday, are heavy favorites against Freiburg, who sit seventh in the Bundesliga. McGinn and Emery both stressed respect for the opponent. “Tomorrow we have a huge challenge,” Emery said. “Are we thinking about the next party on Friday? No, no, no.”