Unai Emery League! Villa stomp Freiburg for his fifth UEL trophy

Simply unbeatable, unbreakable, unbelievable!

Unai Emery has done it again, winning his fifth Europa League, whose acronym, UEL, should stand for Unai Emery League. The Spaniard led Aston Villa to a fully deserved 3-0 landslide triumph in Istanbul against Freiburg, thus proving once again there's no other coach in the world who can guarantee you silverware in the second-best European competition.

With control and confidence, the former European champions outplayed the Bundesliga team, making them appear much weaker than the dominant Aston Villa side.

After a bit of a patient, slow start to the game, the Premier League lot shifted gear and ran over poor Germans, whose fans were sensationally passionate and vocal from the kick-off.

Alas, not even that 12th player could have rescued Freiburg's starting XI. Once they had fallen into the hands of ruthless and determined Villans, there was no way back. The Birmingham-based team did their homework meticulously. They imposed their dominance with such grace and style.

Their attacking axis, Rogers-Watkins, came close to scoring on several occasions. Then, the moment of set-piece magic brought a much-anticipated breakthrough. It was a missile, a rocket, a beauty straight from the playbooks.

Villa took their corner from the left. Rogers crossed it smoothly to the unmarked Tielemans near the edge of the box. The Belgian midfielder opted for a no-nonsense approach. He launched a jaw-dropping volley, hammering it into the bottom corner for a brutal opener, 1-0.

Once the gate was finally open, no one could stop them. Four minutes later, in the dying seconds of the first half, we got ourselves another masterpiece, a genuine stunner - this time from Emi Buendia.

The Argentine received the ball from McGinn, cut it inside onto his left, then curled a true beauty into the far top corner, out of the reach of Freiburg's keeper! A two-goal cushion, embellished with a half-time whistle, and - quite frankly - the game was over at that point.

Villa fans, including Prince William, celebrated as the team built a commanding lead. It felt like there was no way for Freiburg to come back. 

The second half only proved them right. Freiburg tried helplessly to restore the pride and drama, but never came close. On the contrary, the fourth-placed EPL side headed home another one, their third of the game, through unplayable Rogers. It was 3-0.

He became the youngest player to both score and assist in a Europa League final. He was 23 years and 298 days old.

Freiburg were flirting with serious humiliation, as the Englishmen kept finding holes in their defensive block over and over again, with Buendia missing a sitter to make it 4-0 after a mouth-watering four-piece action.

One of the most one-sided UEL finals in recent past was heading into a calm finish. Unai Emery was marching towards another milestone in his incredible career, an unprecedented string of success in the Europa League. After Sevilla and Villarreal, he added Aston Villa to the list of clubs he led to European glory. His legacy as a serial winner in this competition now stands unmatched, setting a standard future managers can only hope to reach.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL

Wednesday

Freiburg - Aston Villa 0-3 (0-2)

/Tielemans 41, Buendia 45, Rogers 58/