68 min: Onana’s first contribution is to hold off Kübler and draw a free kick. The set piece is worked down the right, where McGinn crosses, looking for Watkins. Atubolu, who has done nothing wrong tonight yet has conceded three times in the biggest match of his life, claims with safe hands. Sport is cruel sometimes.
66 min: Lindelof gets himself out of a tight spot with an elegant drag-back and spin. It’s a fine way for him to exit the stage, his last act before he’s replaced by Onana.
65 min: Treu’s loose backpass nearly allows Watkins in. Atubolu races out of his box to bash clear and save the day. “Cats need relaxing activity toys as well as food,” notes Scott Blair, before offering: “Scratching Pole Calmer.”
63 min: Manzambi throws long from the left. Watkins batters the ball clear. Martínez’s sore finger hasn’t been tested at all.
62 min: Freiburg replace Leinhart and Höfler with Höler and Rosenfelder.
60 min: Freiburg look stunned. They were arguably the better team for the majority of the first half, even if they didn’t really create much. But then Villa exploded into life, and they’ve been swept aside mercilessly. What a performance this is from Villa!
GOAL! Freiburg 0-3 Aston Villa (Rogers 58)
McGinn sends Buendia into space down the left. Buendia sees off Kübler with a jink and a drop of the shoulder, before sending a low cross to the near post. Rogers gets in ahead of Leinhart and pokes into the bottom left. A brilliant poacher’s goal! And a lovely assist.
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57 min: Freiburg stroke it around the back, but Villa hold their shape and there’s no way through. Manzambi eventually sends a pass down the right that’s easy for Torres to shepherd out for a goal kick.
55 min: A throw comes into the Villa box from the right. There’s a bit of a scramble, and Torres hoicks clear before one of the three red shirts nearby can take a shy at goal from close range.
54 min: A free kick for Villa in a central position, 35 yards out. Tielemans shovels it down the middle, and Watkins, the ball dropping over his shoulder, extends a leg in an attempt to divert the ball into the bottom left. He connects, but only just, and the ball dribbles wide left.
52 min: Manzambi dribbles across the face of the box, left to right, but opts against shooting. The ball ends up with Ginter on the right. He swings a low cross into the middle, but with nobody in red making a run, that’s easy for Martinez.
50 min: Buendia breaks into a little space down the inside-right channel and enters the box. He spots Atubolu off his line, so tries to dig out a chip towards the top left. It’s on target, but not with enough oomph to beat the keeper, who plucks from the air. Shame, because that would have been peach number three.
48 min: Kübler tries to latch onto a long pass down the right. Martinez comes right to the edge of his box to intercept, then slides out of his area, but lets go of the ball in time. And then the flag goes up anyway. But Villa hearts were in mouths for microseconds there.
47 min: Villa are on the front foot immediately. A couple of positive drives. Unai Emery has clearly told his men that this isn’t over yet, but could be soon if they get another in short order. “Surely Charles Antaki means ‘the only Polish player (Cash has 25 caps for Poland) whose spoonerism would work as a marketing name for feline cat food’,” begins Edward Ricketts. “Although I must confess I haven’t checked if Mateusz Caszinski works in this respect.”
Freiburg get the second half started. No changes. “Until Tielemans’ goal, I thought Freiburg was doing a good job of keeping Villa to half-chances,” writes Kári Tulinius. “However, the German side didn’t create much at the other end. They’ll have to change their approach and push for goals, and that’s dangerous against an Emery team. This could get ugly, unless Freiburg have a bit of luck.”
Half-time postbag. “Our Belgian commentators saw what was happening for that first goal way before the camera operator did. And whilst I was thinking what a waste of a corner. Just goes to show how much some of us underestimate Emery and Villa” – Paulo Biriani
“Bit of a tough pill to swallow, conceding two goals just before the break, but Schuster and the Freiburg players should be pleased with the performance if not the scoreline. Worth keeping in mind that they have players such as Grifo and Manzambi who are capable of producing moments of magic just like Tielemans and Buendia. Still another 45 and a lot can happen!” – Daniel Halladay
“Mention of last year’s Villa-Bayern CL group match reminds me that I haven’t heard about Jhon Duran in a while. His sale and Douglas Luiz the year before look like Villa getting peak value” – G Salorio
“Arsenal fans can look on this game with benign sporting interest, happy to let the better team win and so on, an even willing to ignore the presence of Emi Martinez. But the neutral’s mind does wander. I note, for example, that in Matty Cash, Villa have probably the only English player whose spoonerism would work as a marketing name for feline cat food” – Charles Antaki
HALF TIME: Freiburg 0-2 Aston Villa
You’ll do well to see two better goals in a European final than those. Villa, halfway to glory, positively float down the tunnel!
GOAL! Freiburg 0-2 Aston Villa (Buendia 45+3)
McGinn crosses from the right. Konsa can’t get a header on target. Freiburg only half clear, and Villa recycle the ball. It’s McGinn again, and he rolls a pass in from the right flank. Buendia takes a touch, spinning and stepping infield before stroking an unstoppable shot with the inside of his boot, across Atubola and into the top left! That is sheer magnificence!
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45 min +2: … Konsa tries to poke home from the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. The ball’s deflected wide for another corner, which leads to another corner, which leads to …
45 min +1: … Martinez claims and bowls Tielemans away on the counter. He finds McGinn, who takes a shot from a tight angle on the left. It’s deflected. Another corner, from which …
45 min: Manzambi crosses long from the right. Treu wins a corner off Cash at the far stick. And from that …
43 min: That was clearly a corner routine worked out on the training ground. What a lovely cross by Rogers, finding the in-rushing Tielemans in a pocket of space – his team-mates creating that pocket by gently ushering all of the defenders away - and what a finish! Of a higher standard than Peter Withe’s shinner off the post, that’s fair to say. But hey, they all count, and a legend’s a legend’s a legend.
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GOAL! Freiburg 0-1 Aston Villa (Tielemans 41)
Digne plays the corner back up the left flank. The ball’s sent into the middle by Rogers. It drops to Tielemans, racing down the inside-right channel. Tielemans meets it, just to the right of the penalty spot, and creams a volley across Atubolu and into the bottom left! What a stunning goal!
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41 min: Rogers, Buendia and Digne combine down the left to win a corner for Villa. Digne to take.
39 min: Manzambi dribbles elegantly down the left and reaches the byline, leaving Lindelof in a cloud of dust with a stepover and shimmy. But he absolutely larrups a low cross through the six-yard box, the ball travelling so fast that nobody in red can react in time. Villa, and Lindelof, get away with one.
37 min: … but his delivery is too long and Buendia heads clear. Villa break, Watkins finding McGinn down the inside left with a clever reverse pass. McGinn takes an immediate touch infield, before shooting for the bottom left from the edge of the D. Lienhart blocks bravely, and Watkins isn’t able to do anything with the rebound. Villa carrying a threat for the first time in a wee while.
36 min: Lindelof catches Manzambi as the attacker turns, giving him a sore one on the knee. Manzambi requires a bit of treatment but eventually is hauled back to his feet. Grifo to send the resulting free kick into the mixer from the left …
34 min: Manzambi finds himself in a pocket of space, 25 yards out. His low shot, towards the bottom left, is easy for Martinez. Villa go up the other end, Watkins embarking on a baroque ramble down the inside-right channel, but he attracts one defender too many, and can’t break into the box.
32 min: Freiburg coach Julian Schuster, his side holding their own against the pre-match favourites, stands impassively, arms folded. Unai Emery is frowning quite a lot, by contrast, brain no doubt whirring.
30 min: Cash tries to get something going with a long cross from the right. Rogers can’t win a header at the far stick. “I agree with Richard Hirst from the pre-match postbag,” begins Rob Lewis. “I remember supporting all the other English teams in the 1980s. But as you say, it’s not as simple these days. For instance, as a West Ham fan I feel conflicted about this Villa team. I happen to live in Besiktas and one of my neighbours Jamieson is a massive Villa fan. But after their capitulation to Spurs of a couple of weeks ago, well, you know what I mean. By the way, one of your correspondents referred to the Bosphorus - which is a strait - as a river. Tut tut.”
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29 min: The tempo drops and the game slips into European Final Mode. Not much going on.
27 min: Manzambi looks for Matanović down the left but overcooks the pass. Goal kick.
25 min: Villa have seen 61 percent of the ball so far. But it feels like the match is tilting in Freiburg’s direction now. “John McGinn is a cracking player,” writes Stephen McCrossan. “My team Celtic ‘nearly’ signed him before he went to Villa but for some reason he turned down the Celtic board’s offer of some Amazon vouchers and a discount on Celtic merch. Apart from the godlike Kenny Dalglish, McGinn is clearly the greatest exponent of the use of the arse in football.”
23 min: VAR is anyone’s guess these days, and this time doesn’t bother getting involved. Cash gets away with it. His studs caught Grifo well up the leg. Not with too much force, which is probably what saved him. But as we say, it’s anyone’s guess. Grifo gets up after some attention from the physio, and the resulting free kick is a waste of time.
21 min: Cash flies in late on Grifo and high-kicks him, studs on shin. He’s booked. That wasn’t a good challenge at all. He might be fortunate to avoid some further attention from the VAR.
19 min: Tielemans plays a defence-splitter down the middle. The only problem is, Buendia and Watkins leave it to each other. Keeper’s!
17 min: … so it’s another free kick from the same place out on the right. Again it’s half cleared. This time the ball drops to Höfler, who drags a poor shot from the edge of the box wide right. Villa are fortunate Ginter couldn’t get a touch on the ball to divert it goalwards.
15 min: Digne grapples Manzambi to the floor, and is fortunate not to see yellow, given what happened earlier to Treu. The free kick is sent into the Villa box from the right and cleared. Buendia competes for a high ball with Beste, who goes down having caught a trailing arm in the mush. Buendia goes into the book.
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13 min: “It’s 13/15 on the quiz for me, Scott,” reports Simon McMahon. “If Villa don’t do it tonight, I’m sure that will at least be of some comfort to them and their fans. They’ve got ‘Super’ John McGinn, though, so I think it’ll be celebrations all round come full time.”
… and to illustrate that, McGinn, dropping deep to quarterback, spins and sprays a fine pass down the left to release Watkins into acres of space. It’s a shame Watkins’ attempted cutback goes nowhere near a white shirt. Freiburg clear.
11 min: Emi Martinez and his finger have outlasted Jimmy Rimmer by a good two minutes and counting.
10 min: Lindelof plays a cute pass down the inside-left channel for Rogers, who takes a touch infield and curls a shot towards the top right. Just wide, but not by much, and Atubolu was backpedaling in a panic there.
9 min: Höfler slightly scuffs a backpass down the Villa left, nearly letting Watkins in. Atubolu is forced to rush to the edge of his box and blooter out for a throw. From which …
7 min: Now it’s Freiburg’s turn to go long. Grifo launches long, and Matanović barges into Konsa. The whistle goes. This game already feels like it’s got goals in it.
5 min: McGinn spins Treu down the right touchline, and is crudely rugby-tackled around the waist by the Freiburg left-back. Treu becomes the first name in the referee’s notebook. “Thanks for sharing David Lacey’s write-up of the 1982 final,” begins Alex Adams. “Wonderfully old-school Graun, right down to only having to wait until the sixth word for a typo. Lovely stuff.” We aim to plese.
3 min: Watkins chases after a long ball down the middle. He takes it down and, after a bit of a grapple, gets the better of Lienhart. He’s clear … but he then tops his shot, the ball rolling softly into the arms of Atubolu. And then the flag goes up for offside anyway.
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2 min: Now it’s Villa’s turn to attack, and Rogers is sent into space down the right by Tielemans. He creams a low diagonal drive towards the bottom left, and Atubolu gets down to parry clear with a strong hand.
Aston Villa get the ball rolling … and are quickly pushed back by Freiburg, a ball coming in from the right, Matanović flashing a header wide. The German side making it immediately known that they don’t intend to just make up the numbers.
The teams are out! Freiburg are the home team for administrative purposes, so they get to wear their first-choice European kit of red. That means Aston Villa will play in white. Which is exactly what they wore against the red-shirted Bayern Munich in 1982. The good omens just keep on coming. A sensational atmosphere at Beşiktaş Park in Istanbul as Vincenzo Grifo and John McGinn swap pennants and pleasantries. Not long now!
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Unai Emery speaks to TNT Sports: “Definitely very normal routine [today] … analyse our performance … analyse our opponent … respect them a lot … now we focus … everywhere the fans travel with us … today is a special day for them … we do this for them … they enjoy it with heart … respect Europe … respect the opponent … completely focus in our game-plan … our personality … our identity … the players in the bench must have a good impact … we have options.”
… and hopefully we won’t have to reference Jimmy Rimmer again this evening. Here’s Ben Fisher …
The teams have just been read aloud and Emi Martinez’s name was the first to receive a massive cheer. At the end of the team news, Unai Emery’s name is also given a huge reception.
David Lacey – one of the genuine greats of sportswriting - was in Rotterdam to see Villa win the aforementioned 1982 European Cup final. Here’s his report, in glorious new-fangled click-o-vision. (Thanks to the Guardian Research Department for sorting!)
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Pre-match postbag. “Villa fan at the stadium. Both sets of fans have been fantastic. Brilliant venue on the river (apart from the capacity). Dying of nerves. Just win. They’re good. We should be better but in a one-off game we’ve proven to be brilliant and … v Spurs. I hope this is a stop in the journey up with Unai but being a Villa fan you always have that fear” – David Bertram
“It’s the edge of the Black Forest versus the gateway to the Black Country, the Breisgauern against the Brummies, Germany’s eco-friendly Green City facing England’s Second City! Breisgau-Brum Bash by the Bosphorus!” – Peter Oh (but you’d guessed that already, hadn’t you)
“The quiz about English teams in European finals led me to reflect. As a boy/teenager I supported every English team in a European final - yes, even Man Utd in 1968. Now, not so much: in fact I’m not sure I want any of the English teams playing over the next few days to win. Is that because
(a) I’m bitter because my team has never won anything, so I don’t want other English teams to win? Probably.
(b) supporting a team for so many years means you build up grievances against virtually every other team (don’t get me started on Derby 1983)? Almost certainly.
(c) have I just become a grumpy old curmudgeon? Let’s not go there.
Has anyone else observed this phenomenon?” - Richard Hirst
Jimmy Rimmer de nos jours latest. “Martinez has gone down the tunnel,” reports Ben Fisher. “The other GKs are still warming up, though GKs usually head in early, don’t they?”
Hmm. So much for that panic being over.
Villa have form for goalkeeper woes in European finals. Jimmy Rimmer went into the 1982 European Cup final with a sore neck, having taken a whack in training a couple of days before the match. He lasted nine minutes before giving way to 23-year-old substitute goalie Nigel Spink, who went on to have the match of his life. So all won’t be lost should the worst happen to Martinez …
… though our man on the spot, Ben Fisher, has just reported that “the glove is now back on and he’s practising claiming crosses from coaches and the other goalkeepers.” So panic over, for now at least.
Some concerning news for Villa, as keeper Emi Martinez appears to have a problem with his right hand. Our man in Istanbul, Ben Fisher, reports.
Emi Martinez may have an issue here: Villa’s goalkeeping coach, Javi Garcia, has just spent the past couple of minutes taping one of Martinez’s fingers and now the Argentinian World Cup winner is continuing to warm up with his right goalie glove in his left hand. He looks very mobile, but it doesn’t seem ideal.
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This is the first time Aston Villa and Freiburg have met. Precedent enthusiasts must therefore look to previous matches against teams from the opponents’ country. Villa have won their last two meetings against teams from Germany, having beaten Bayern Munich and Leipzig during the group phase of last season’s Champions League. And of course they’ll always have Rotterdam, where they saw off Bayern in the 1982 final. As for Freiburg, they’ve played four matches against English opposition … and all of them were against West Ham in the 2023-24 Europa League! They went down 1-2 and 0-2 in the groups, won the first leg of a round-of-16 tie 1-0, then lost the second leg 0-5. So it’s advantage Villa.
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… so that’s the same Villa XI that started the second-leg win over Nottingham Forest, and last Friday’s evisceration of Liverpool. Not a huge surprise: Villa scored four goals in both of those matches. Viktor Lindelof keeps his place in midfield, and that keeps Amadou Onana on the bench.
The teams
Freiburg: Atubolu, Kübler, Ginter, Lienhart, Treu, Eggestein, Höfler, Beste, Manzambi, Grifo, Matanovic.
Subs: Müller, Huth, Jung, Osterhage, Scherhant, Höler, Irié, Philipp, Günter, Makengo, Rosenfelder, Ogbus.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Lindelof, Rogers, Tielemans, Buendia, McGinn, Watkins.
Subs: Bizot, Wright, Mings, Elliott, Garcia, Abraham, Sancho, Luiz, Maatsen, Onana, Bogarde, Bailey.
Referee: François Letexier (France)
VAR: Jérôme Brisard (France)
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Matty Cash – sporting a lovely tracksuit top with delicious 1982 Villa roundel – speaks to TNT Sports. “Really loud … full of Villans everywhere … really excited … I’m sure they’ll be really loud all night … such a fantastic club … finally got itself back in European football … we’ve got a great opportunity to give the fans what they deserve, a trophy back to Villa Park … we know what a big test it is … we’re playing a really competitive team … we believe in [Unai Emery] … we watched one video today and one last night … it was an hour and a half, though!”
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This is a huge match for Aston Villa all right … but for SC Freiburg, this represents the biggest occasion in the club’s entire 121-year history. Freiburg have never won a major trophy – runners-up in the 2022 German cup final is as close as they’ve come – so simply getting here is a huge achievement for Julian Schuster and his team. Andy Brassell runs the rule over the folk in Aston Villa’s way.
Unai Emery is hoping to make it five wins from six Europa League final appearances tonight. Here’s his story so far.
Q: Do you have time to kill before kick-off?
A: Yes.
Preamble
Aston Villa have won two European trophies in their history. And no we’re not counting the Intertoto Cup. Dignity, my friends, dignity. The first, and quite obviously the most special, is the 1982 European Cup, inspired by Ron Saunders but actually won by Tony Barton and Peter Withe. You can relive, rediscover or just read about that with David Lacey’s match report …
… and Ben Fisher’s nostalgic chat with the players.
A glorious victory that will never get old. Though is it as downright hilarious as their dismantling in the Super Cup the following year of Barcelona, who in the 1980s were a rugged shower of galoots and hoodlums?
No of course it’s not. Glory days. But it’s long past the time Villa had another major European victory to celebrate. Can they turn Istanbul into Astonbul? They’re favourites to beat Freiburg tonight, and it doesn’t harm that their boss, Unai Emery, is also the guvnor of the Europa League, having won it four times already for Sevilla and Villarreal. Can John McGinn join Dennis Mortimer and Ken McNaught in hoisting some continental silver for the Villa? We’ll find out soon enough. Kick-off at Beşiktaş Stadyumu is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
