Villa’s Emery Eyes Record Fifth Europa League Crown in Final vs Freiburg

Two years ago, during Aston Villa’s first European campaign under Unai Emery, Vicente Iborra offered insight into a manager he knows intimately. “He is a coach that takes into consideration every detail which might happen in the match,” said Iborra, then with Olympiakos. Iborra holds winner’s medals from all four of Emery’s Europa League triumphs — three consecutive at Sevilla and the latest with Villarreal five years ago, before which the injured midfielder delivered a stirring dressing-room speech. “You have the chance to make a lot of people happy,” he said as an opening gambit.

On Wednesday in Freiburg, Emery aims to lift the trophy for a record-extending fifth time. Before Villa advanced past Nottingham Forest in the semifinals, Vítor Pereira spoke for many when he dubbed Emery the king of the Europa League. Emery has reached the final six times, losing one with Arsenal, and seeks his first silverware with Villa. Iborra’s words resonate: “I have learned many things from Mr Emery, but one thing I will never forget from him is that, in order to find yourself in a final, in order to experience this great moment in your lifetime, one truly has to want that, one has to long for it.”

Defender Pau Torres, part of the Villarreal side that beat Manchester United on penalties in 2021, is expected to start for Villa on Wednesday. Emery has shared with his players the value of victory and his hunger for a fifth title. “For us to win a trophy is important,” Torres said. “For the club to be in Europe every year is important for the financial rules, for the prestige of the club, but at the end if you don’t win a trophy for the fans, it’s like: ‘OK, you did some really, really good seasons, but we wanted more.’ I think for the fans these are the most important things: to enjoy these games, these moments, and for those who can go, the trip to Istanbul. Hopefully we can celebrate together on Wednesday night … and Thursday.”

Emery’s drive has long burned inside him; he recently reached 1,000 games as a manager. Upon arriving at Villa Park three and a half years ago in a wood-paneled suite, he spelled out his desire to win a trophy and restore the club to European competition. Villa then sat 16th in the Premier League, three points above relegation, having finished 17th, 11th, and 14th in previous seasons. Emery steered them to seventh after a transformative first six months. Since then they have finished fourth and sixth, this their third consecutive European campaign. They will finish fourth or fifth this season, arguably Emery’s finest achievement, though he was overlooked for the Premier League manager of the season award.

This season started disastrously: Villa failed to win any of their opening six league matches. Right-back Matty Cash scored their first league goal, a speculative effort in a draw at Sunderland as October neared. Emery feared relegation, and a Champions League return seemed fanciful. Days later in the Europa League, Villa began their turnaround with a home win over Bologna. Emery and his staff intensified efforts, asking the squad to convene before noon on matchday for meetings, with kickoff more than eight hours away.

Villa began preparations for Freiburg on Monday, training at Bodymoor Heath before flying to Turkey in the afternoon. On the training pitch, Emery is hands-on, often physically moving players like mannequins to emphasize his points. Players have grown accustomed to lengthy video analysis sessions. Cash explained how Emery debriefed the second leg against Forest before focusing on Freiburg. “That will be a good hour and a half, I reckon,” Cash said. “Then Freiburg, that’ll probably be two hours. With what we’ve got to play for, I think we’d have a three-hour meeting just to get over the line. It’s part of our routine now; it’s just like going to work: you know you’re going to have meetings, analysis.”

Do players ever see a different side of Emery? “Not really, no,” Cash said. “He’s very focused – sometimes the day after games he has a laugh and stuff, but the majority of the time he is very focused and he’s just: work, work, work. The times we’ve qualified for Europe before, we’ve had a little party or whatever, and then you see him smiling a little bit more, letting his hair down and not talking about football as much. But when we’ve got big, important games coming up, the analysis and the detail goes up a notch. He is very demanding of his players and his coaches.”

Emery, always animated on the touchline, strives to remain calm under crisis. Does he demand even more after victories? “Yeah, definitely,” said midfielder Youri Tielemans, laughing. “It’s weird because sometimes when we come into the changing room at half-time, we feel like we’re having a bad game and he’s there to cheer us up, and not put us down even more than what we are. For example, recently at half-time against Tottenham, we didn’t compete at all with them, we were having a bad day, a bad game, and he was there to put us back with both feet on the ground to say: ‘Listen, we are where we are because of our consistency’ and no matter what happens he said he is proud of us. That’s his message to cheer us up and make sure that we never give up.”

On Saturday morning, hours after Villa secured a Champions League place with a resounding win over Liverpool, Emery held a meeting about their collective journey. He often references how they pushed Paris Saint-Germain in last season’s Champions League quarterfinals as a benchmark. In one breath he congratulated players on their latest achievement; in another he urged them to maintain their level and go down in history. Last week Peter Withe, Villa’s 1982 match-winner, observed training and met the squad. “We will face this final in our best moment in the season,” Torres said.

A broad smile spread across Ezri Konsa’s face when asked if Emery’s Europa League record gives Villa confidence, confirming the manager is viewed as a trump card. If Villa win their first trophy in 30 years, Emery and his players will achieve immortal status. Cash said: “I was saying to my friends on Friday: ‘If you want any man to be leading you into a Europa League final, it’s him, because he’s done it so many times.’ If you look at what we have gone through over the last few years, I think the only thing missing is a trophy.”