Unai Emery secured his fifth Europa League title after leading Aston Villa to thrash Friegburg 3-0 in the final on Wednesday. It was also the club’s first European trophy in 44 years.
Emery previously guided Sevilla to three Europa League glory in a row (2014, 2015 and 2016) and went on to win it again with Villareal in 2021. Few managers have achieved what the Spanish Maestro has achieved on continental success. Emery is now level with with Giovanni Trapattoni, Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti for the most major European final victories by a manager, according to Opta.
The Villa manager has also become only the second coach, alongside Ancelotti, to win a major European competition on five separate occasions.
“I am always very grateful for Europe, for every competition, Conference League, Champions League, Europa League, but especially Europa League,” Emery told reporters after the match at Instabul. “We fought strongly in this competition and tried to give it our best. We played in a very serious way this year.”
With his fifth Europa title, Emery has established himself as one of the best managers of his generation – and he is not going to stop.
“My dream when I started [at Villa] was to play in Europe and play for trophies – this is the first one. We played in two semi-finals and were close,” Emery said.
“Those experiences are very important to get better. The club have been missing European cups, a trophy.
“So achieving this makes us so happy, but we’re not going to stop.”
What Villa players said about Unai Emery
Former Villa player Ashley Young called Emery a ‘born winner” who has put the club back into Europe from when they were in the 16th position in the Premier League.
“Emery is a born winner, especially in this competition when he has shown it time and time and time again. Put his name up there alongside Ancelotti and Mourinho,” he told Radio 5 Live.
“He’s put this club back into Europe, back into the Champions League. If you had said when we were in 16th position in the Premier League that he would come in and win the Europa League, not one player would think that would be true. He’s just got a way.”
Villa captain John McGinn also credited the manager for the club’s dramatic rise since his arrival in 2022.
“With this manager in charge, anything’s possible,” McGinn admitted. “Tonight was just everything we have built, coming together, and the pride I felt at 3-0 with 10 minutes to go, thinking we’re European champions was something I can’t even describe. It’s the proudest moment and night of my career so far.”
Striker Ollie Watkins revealed Emery’s “calmness” helped settle the squad and motivated them to win.
“Normally sometimes in the league games he’s a little bit anxious because obviously he wants us to win, but today he was really calm and I think that set the tone for us boys,” the England international said.
