Europa League final: Aston Villa target 'special' win over Freiburg with Unai Emery

Aston Villa go into their first European final in 44 years on Wednesday - but their head coach Unai Emery is a Europa League master who knows exactly what is required on this big stage.

This will be Emery's sixth Europa League final. He has tasted glory, three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal. And he has tasted defeat, losing heavily to Chelsea as Arsenal boss in 2019.

For the Villa players, there is no better man to guide them into and through this massive match in Istanbul.

"I can't speak highly enough of Unai Emery," said striker Ollie Watkins ahead of the showdown with Bundesliga side Freiburg. "There's been a massive turnaround since he's come into the club.

"The football we are playing, the belief he has put into us as players. To achieve what we have with the same squad is remarkable and credit to him and the players for working hard on the training pitch to implement the game plan he is giving to us."

Watkins describes the semi-final second-leg 4-0 destruction of Nottingham Forest at Villa Park as an "almost perfect game". Now the dream is to produce another decisive performance with the big prize at stake.

"It's going to be the first time playing in a final [for this Villa squad together]," said Watkins, who has five goals and two assists in the competition this season.

"We've been in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the Conference League, but to go one step further is an amazing achievement.

"However, we can't rest there. We know what we have to do. We are in a good run of form and everyone is excited for the game. Hopefully we can bring the trophy back to Birmingham."

There will be big celebrations on the streets of the second city if Villa do pull it off. In terms of stature, it might not match the 1982 European Cup final, when Villa beat Bayern Munich, but, for this generation it will be a moment to treasure.

For Emery, it is another block - a big one - in the project he is building at Villa.

Champions League football for next year has already been assured by securing a top-five finish in the Premier League. The chance to add silverware to that achievement can cap what has been another impressive season under the Spaniard.

"It would be another step forward," said Emery, when asked what a Europa League win would mean for Villa.

"But to play for a trophy is difficult, it's 50-50 for us or Freiburg to win it. There is still a lot of work to do but how we are playing now, at a high level, it is bringing us some good moments as professionals.

"I am so comfortable with the level we are at and for the supporters, try to understand we are moving forward in a new level.

"But playing for a trophy is part of the process. Losing to Olympiakos [in the Conference League semi-finals in 2024] was part of the process of our experience and our development for playing in the final.

"It's going to be a special day."

Scouting report: Freiburg...

Sky Sport's Dougie Critchley:

Freiburg are an established Bundesliga side, having just completed their 10th consecutive campaign in the German top-flight - but their run to the final of the Europa League is one of the shocks of the season.

Having lost their star player Ritsu Doan to Eintracht Frankfurt last summer, few expected Freiburg to maintain momentum this term. But former player Julian Schuster has backed up a fifth-place league finish in his first season with seventh this term, beating Champions League sides Leipzig and Stuttgart and taking points off Dortmund and Leverkusen along the way.

The Breisgau Brazilians, as they are nicknamed, finished seventh in the league phase of the Europa League and have scored 25 goals in the competition - just three fewer than an Aston Villa side which scored seven in their quarter-final clash with Bologna. They should not be underestimated.

They have used a 4-2-3-1 formation in all but three of their 34 Bundesliga games.

In terms of players to watch, Matthias Ginter is their defensive lynchpin. Back at his first club, the former Dortmund centre-back, capped 51 times by Germany, will be called upon to use all his experience.

Aston Villa's midfielders will have to keep an eye on Johan Manzambi too, the Swiss No 10 who has undergone something of an explosion this season. Seven league and Europa League goals, another six assists - it's no surprise he's been strongly linked with Man United, Arsenal and Chelsea ahead of a potential summer move.

Their star player though? That's 33-year-old left winger Vincenzo Grifo.

He's Freiburg's all-time top scorer with 108 goals from his 359 appearances across two spells, including 11 in the league this season to go with six goals and assists in his last five Europa League games.

If anyone is going to do something special for Freiburg, there's a good chance it's Grifo.

Interestingly, he received the Bundesliga fair play award in 2021/22 for admitting to diving against Eintracht, convincing the referee to overturn a penalty. There are few more popular players in the Bundesliga amongst neutrals.

One thing is for certain though, Ginter, Manzambi and Grifo won't be handing out any freebies to Aston Villa in Istanbul!

The pundit view: Emery has Villa believing - now deliver!

Former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie:

"It's got to happen, it has to happen this season. Those numbers from what he's achieved since he arrived at the club up until now, it's now about silverware. I think it will happen.

"They're at the stage now where they have to start producing. Because they're at the level of top clubs in England, they've proven that. They put PSG to the sword in the Champions League last season.

"What Emery has done is make everyone believe. These fans absolutely idolise him. He's got complete control of the football club. The squad that he's got, he wasn't able to bring in bags of players in the summer but he got the best out of the squad of players that he's got, which is testament to his character and attention to detail.

"What he's done with the squad is utilise them all season, he's got everyone part of it. He wants everyone amongst it. He's really got this Aston Villa squad believing."

Sky Sports' Jamie Redknapp:

"I don't think there's a manager in European football that you would want more than Unai Emery on a big European night.

"He's the master, and we've seen it before and is great at setting up the team.

"I can't see anything else apart from a Villa win."