‘From another planet’, ‘men vs boys’ – Aston Villa win first European trophy in 44 years

‘From another planet’, ‘men vs boys’ and ‘masterclass’ were just some of the phrases used as Aston Villa swept Freiburg aside in the Europa League final to lift their first European trophy since 1982.

Youri Tielemans, Emi Buendia and Morgan Rogers all scored as Aston Villa won their first major trophy in 30 years, and Unai Emery secured the Europa League for the fifth time in his managerial career.

Villa took the lead in spectacular fashion in the 41st minute through Tielemans. Rogers picked the ball up from a short corner and crossed for an unmarked Tielemans, who raced into the box before brilliantly controlling a first-time volley into the bottom corner.

The manner of Tielemans’ strike inspired Buendia, who netted his own wondergoal just before half-time.

Buendia received the ball from John McGinn before curling an excellent left-footed effort into the far corner.

Villa went into the break 2-0 up, and things got even better for Emery’s side in the 58th minute. Buendia showed off great footwork to get away from his marker wide on the left, giving him space to put the ball into the six-yard box.

Rogers reacted quickly to slide in ahead of his marker and poke home from a tight angle.

Amadou Onana headed onto the post from a corner, while Buendia should have made it 4-0 in the 76th minute when he sent his dink over the goalkeeper narrowly wide.

Freiburg barely threatened Villa as Emery’s men saw out a 3-0 win to write their names in the history books.

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New Aston Villa ‘legends’

TEAMtalk’s Fraser Fletcher called it ‘men vs boys’, while TNT Sports commentator Darren Fletcher said ‘legends have been made’.

Fletcher added that Villa’s football was ‘from another planet’ when Tielemans played a superb disguised pass into Buendia’s path in the 76th minute, only for the Argentine to surprisingly fluff his lines.

Co-commentator Ally McCoist said: “An absolutely perfect night for the Villa.

“I’ll be brutally honest, there wasn’t a lot in it for the opening 30 minutes, but the first goal, what a goal it was. And after that, the game exploded into life.

“It was totally dominated by Aston Villa. We’ll be speaking about the level of goals in a major European final for a long, long time.”

Owen Hargreaves added: “Wow, what a performance. Brilliant, a masterclass from Unai Emery, from these players.

“Set pieces, they barely left Freiburg with anything in the game. The quality of the goals was absolutely remarkable.”