Freiburg vs Aston Villa: What to look out for in the Europa League final

Freiburg are in their first UEFA final as they prepare to meet 1982 European Cup winners Aston Villa in the UEFA Europa League decider in Istanbul.

We look at the key subplots ahead of the final on Wednesday 20 May 2026.

The set-up

Freiburg set a new club record when they reached the Europa League round of 16 in 2022/23 and repeated that achievement in 2023/24. Julian Schuster's side have now set an entirely new standard this time around by making it to their first major continental final. They have yet to win a major domestic trophy – the nearest they came was losing in the 2021/22 German Cup final – but this resilient side have prided themselves on setting new standards.

Aston Villa, by contrast, have won domestic titles and cups in England and were European champions in 1981/82, Tony Barton's side beating Bayern München 1-0 in the final in Rotterdam thanks to Peter Withe's goal. UEFA Champions League contenders in recent years, the Birmingham side have not won anything substantial since the 1995/96 League Cup. Thirty years of hurt, though, never stopped them dreaming.

The key statistics

Freiburg have never been to Türkiye before and their only previous experience of English opponents were four games against West Ham in their 2023/24 Europa League campaign (W1 L3), with the Hammers (who wear a similar claret and blue kit to Villa) ultimately eliminating them in the round of 16.

Villa have outscored Freiburg 28–25 in this campaign, have conceded fewer goals (eight to Freiburg's ten) and have the unusual distinction of not having conceded in three previous games in Istanbul (W2 D1). Their record against Bundesliga opposition is good (W4 L2), and includes that final success against Bayern, who coincidentally wear the same red home shirts as Freiburg do in European home games.

The men in charge

Julian Schuster spent the bulk of his playing career as a midfielder for Freiburg and stayed on at the club as assistant coach after retiring, making his continental coaching debut in October 2022 when his boss Christian Streich was forced to miss a game after contracting COVID. Since taking command in March 2024, he has led the club to one of its best Bundesliga finishes (fifth last season) and now into their first European final.

In charge at Villa since October 2022, Unai Emery's CV is rather more imposing, not least since he has won the Europa League four times (Sevilla in 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/15 and with Villarreal in 2020/21). The former midfielder also led Paris Saint-Germain to the Ligue 1 title in 2017/18, but if the Spaniard has more European experience than his opposite number, Freiburg can take some courage from the fact that Emery's only Europa League final defeat to date came with an English side: Arsenal in 2018/19.

On-field connections

The bulk of the Freiburg squad have spent their playing careers exclusively in Germany, though they have around 150 caps between them spread across eight different national teams, with 51-times capped Germany defender Mattias Ginter and 40-times capped Austria defender Philipp Lienhart accounting for the majority of those. The players in Villa's Europa League squad have around 600 caps.

While no members of the Freiburg team have played in the Premier League, a handful of Villa stars have Bundesliga experience, not least ex-Leverkusen forward Leon Bailey and two-time Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho. In Sancho's first spell at BVB (2017–21), he played alongside Freiburg forward Maximilian Philipp (2017–19), while he may have come across Patrick Osterhage and Jan-Niklas Beste, who were in the club's junior ranks.

What do the 2026 Europa League winners get?

UEFA via Getty Images

The victors will receive the eye-catching Europa League trophy, which is the heaviest of all UEFA silverware at 15kg, and guarantee their place in the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League.