The Europa League was the crowning glory but going into that final with a Champions League berth already locked up was (a) fun and (b) really important, I believe, for the mood in Istanbul.

Finishing in the top four was the ultimate Premier League target for Villa. It looked a little precarious at times but they eventually did it with a game to spare and ended up knocking Manchester City off on their own patch on the last day to end with a hungover flourish.

Now Emery and his players are away on their holidays or at the World Cup, I’ve been looking back over a successful league season and diving into some of the numbers.

Why? Because why not. That’s why.

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Aston Villa will play everybody in the Premier League twice between August and May, yes, but it’s always nice to have a scan through the full list and start mentally sketching out the season a little bit.

So, who will Villa play first and last? What’s happening on Boxing Day and around New Year? When do Villa face the three teams promoted from the Championship?

Let’s find out.

The first month

Villa start with an away game at Brighton & Hove Albion followed by a home fixture against Arsenal at Villa Park.

Those are the only two matches in August. The season starts a week later than last year because of the World Cup, so it’ll be September 5th before the third game away at promoted Hull City.

The second home fixture brings Europa League semi-final opponents Nottingham Forest back to Villa Park. In the last match before the new bumper international break, Villa will take on Tottenham Hotspur at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The last month

Spurs pop up again at the very end of the season, which concludes with a home game against the North Londoners on May 30th.

Before that, Villa face Crystal Palace (A), Brentford (A), Newcastle United (H) and Manchester City (A) in a busy May.

Going to the Etihad Stadium at the end of the season seems to have become a tradition for Villa so perhaps it’s best that they finally have a win there to wave Pep Guardiola off over the horizon.

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Villa will be at home against Leeds United on Boxing Day unless the fixture is moved for television, which is a distinct possibility with December 26th falling on a Saturday this year and therefore potentially being subject to the 3pm blackout.

Liverpool visit Villa Park in between Christmas and New Year before Unai Emery’s team head off to the south coast to play AFC Bournemouth on January 2nd.

Promoted teams

Villa’s six matches against the teams promoted from the Championship have been handily divided into away fixtures in the first half of the season in 2026 and home games in the second half of the season in 2027:

• September 5th – Hull City (A)

• November 28th – Ipswich Town (A)

• December 12th – Coventry City (A)

• January 30th – Ipswich Town (H)

• March 13th – Hull City (H)

• April 24th – Coventry City (H)

Depending on what’s at stake for the teams involved, the last two of those could be particularly meaningful affairs. There are only five games left after the Sky Blues match, so both teams will know exactly what’s on the line.

Here are Villa’s 2026/27 fixtures in full.

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Harvey Elliott was magnificent. He scored both goals against the Netherlands in the semi-final and the first against Germany in the final. He was named the best player in the tournament.

With the World Cup a year away and Elliott ageing out of Under-21 football, he was on the cusp of a crucial decision. He needed playing time and wasn’t getting it at Liverpool, so he left – or so we thought – with a heavy heart.

Elliott joined Aston Villa on loan on transfer deadline day at the beginning of September and I thought it was the perfect move for him.

He was joining a competitive club with a need to strengthen in his position and a manager with a proven track record of improving individual players. Elliott had fantastic potential and I couldn’t wait to see it fulfilled at Villa Park.

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Villa won the Europa League, their second European title and the first trophy since 1996. You might have heard. Istanbul has joined Rotterdam in the Villa pantheon and manager Unai Emery has a legitimate claim to be the king of all he surveys.

His players are now one of those teams supporters will list by heart for the rest of their lives and there are true legends of the club walking among them. The end of August feels like a very long time ago.

One of my favourite Villa teams is the one that won promotion back to the Premier League in 2018/19. That play-off run, the final in particular, was the most exhilarating time to support Villa.

I adore those boys but winning a European trophy is a whole different playing field. There are three current Villa players who have been part of both. One, now the captain, scored in the play-off final and was the outstanding player at a much higher level seven years later.

We have in our ranks a bona fide Villa great.

Aston Villa Review’s Aston Villa Player of the Season for 2025/26 is: John McGinn.

McGinn’s direct impact in Villa’s greatest modern season

There are other players who can lay claim to an excellent season.

Ezri Konsa is among the most reliable players in the squad and is unquestionably one of the top centre-backs in the Premier League. Matty Cash has had a blinder. I’ve run out of positive things to say about Emi Buendía but if he’s had his best season in a Villa shirt then McGinn has too.

If Villa had failed to meet their objectives, McGinn’s season would have been at risk of being damned by faint praise. No footballer wants to put in their best performances in their absence and Villa’s form while McGinn was injured made that a real possibility.

The skipper’s role in dragging the team to the Europa League final and fourth place in the Premier League is the shortened version of what made him Villa’s best player of 2025/26.

That impact in what became a record season for perhaps the best bargain buy in the club’s history was quite remarkable.

McGinn’s game isn’t supposed to be about goals but who knows where Villa would be if he hadn’t come back with a major case of net lust.

Double figures for goals means only the other members of Villa’s most-used front four scored more than McGinn in all competitions. The timing of his goals even at the beginning of the season was absolutely crucial.

From scoring the only goal in Villa’s first win of the season against Bologna to his last goal against Liverpool to secure a Champions League spot in May, the role of captain has seldom been better fulfilled by a Villa player.

Expected goals (xG) was one of the themes of Villa’s season. The question of the sustainability or otherwise of Villa’s performances hinged on whether they could keep scoring from low-percentage situations.

They could and did. Only Buendía and Morgan Rogers outperformed their xG by more than McGinn.

Over the course of the Premier League season, McGinn scored two goals better than expected – not to be sniffed at.

Villa’s inspirational leader

McGinn wasn’t the top scorer or the most effective based on the chances that came his way. That’s not his role. What he did in that regard was a tangible manifestation of the role he does have, which he performed to a terrific standard in 2025/26.

Meatball is Villa’s leader, Villa’s captain, Villa’s heartbeat, Villa’s essence – call it what you want, McGinn is it.

I’ve supported Villa for my entire life and I’m the wrong side of forty but I have no qualms whatsoever about applying those labels to a man who had no connection to the club until 2018.

It’s no exaggeration to say that McGinn has come to embody Villa in multiple ways. He’s the club’s character made flesh. He’s the poster boy for the rise from the Championship to the Champions League. He was the man who lifted the first European trophy for 44 years.

One in a billion doesn’t begin to describe him but McGinn’s always been McGinn. Even by his standards, 2025/26 was a step up in measurable output.

Excluding an outlier or two, McGinn was right up there with Villa’s most prolific players for goal contributions (goals and assists).

Tammy Abraham tops the list of players with ten or more appearances but his too is a small sample size. Donyell Malen scored regularly for a while, a habit that become even clearer when he departed for Roma.

Beyond them, the usual suspects are where you’d expect them to be.

What’s noteworthy is that McGinn delivered a goal or an assist more often than Rogers. That’s not a reflection on Rogers – he is one of the most lusted-after players in the Premier League for many reasons – but it demonstrates McGinn’s importance.

Rogers was the only Villa player to create more chances in the Premier League than McGinn, and he played 1,143 more minutes than the skipper. McGinn was well clear of Youri Tielemans, who also missed a ton of games. The Belgium captain is a phenomenal footballer, lest we forget.

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Only striker and top scorer Ollie Watkins had a higher shot conversion rate in Villa’s Premier League matches.

When you breathe, I wanna be the air for you…

We need to contextualise all this information: McGinn’s numbers point to an absurd level of consistency that even he hasn’t achieved before. He was there when Villa needed him in a big, bad way.

Despite a couple of injury issues, McGinn was part of a small group of players with more than 3,000 minutes played in all competitions.

For the most part, Villa have enjoyed the benefits of a constantly available captain and warrior who makes a difference to the scoresheet as readily as he wins fouls.

McGinn has been a pleasure to watch and managed to make himself an almost universal choice for Player of the Season ahead of the five players who played much more than he did, all match-winners at both ends of the field or, in Konsa and Cash, models of reliability.

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This was a serious, varied and persistent contribution to Villa’s best season for generations. It was tangible and not. It was direct and not. It was, simply, the kind of season we’ll be talking about for decades.

McGinn is now Brian Little, Gordon Cowans and Paul McGrath – a new Villa icon to be passed down to children and grandchildren.

Aston Villa have qualified for Europe by virtue of their Premier League position for four seasons on the bounce, reaching the Champions League twice and winning the Europa League in an extraordinary finale to the 2025/26 season.

Only one of these clubs deserves contemporaneous recognition as part of an elite group. In England, the only label applied to such a group these days is the ‘Big Six’.

Taken in the context of the Unai Emery era as a whole, Villa’s last three matches of the season put them in a position in which their ‘Big Six’ claim can’t be ignored.

Villa beat Liverpool and Manchester City either side of a successful European final, finishing fourth in the league. They were truly excellent against the Reds and Freiburg.

The idea that the Premier League has a ‘Big Six’ that includes Spurs and not Villa became laughable in the space of nine days.

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Villa and their technical partner have aligned on some bold choices both major and minor in next season’s kit design. Supporters are divided, obviously, but the kit’s lasting impression will be defined by what the players achieve in it.

Nevertheless, let’s have a look at the new Villa shirt and its big fat adidas template shoulder stripes.

Villa’s new home shorts and socks are ‘glow blue’ – very pale blue – so 2026/27 will be an incredibly rare season in which Villa don’t wear white shorts at home. That’s where this sort of thing can get tricky. I think the shorts look superb with the shirt. I’m not sure that’s what really matters.

It chimes with the stated 1960s inspiration, though, so I have no major complaints in that regard. I’m all for doing something a bit different every few seasons and I’d bet a good chunk of change that the shorts are white again in 2027/28.

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That applies to the sleeves too. Villa moving permanently from a traditional claret body with light blue sleeves is not an option as far as I’m concerned but a full claret shirt every now and again is fine by me.

It’s noteworthy that there is no white, yellow or gold on this simplified Villa kit. The widened adidas stripes and performance logo are also glow blue, along with the sleeve cuffs and shirt collar, which I think is rather good in an era of outstandingly poor collars.

The absence of yellow is primarily explained by the monochrome club badge, which seems to be a point of contention for lots of supporters whose preference for the home shirt would be a full-colour version of the badge.

I agree in principle, but here’s the thing: Villa’s badge is an abomination. The yellow lion is dreadful and having drop shadow to separate a low-contrast splodge from a pale blue background is so laughable that I still can’t believe it’s real.

Anything that can be done to mitigate that should be done, in my view, and I prefer this execution even if it’s let down by the continuation of the drop shadow. It’s not needed here.

On balance, my first impressions are that I like the new kit more than I don’t. But we need to see it in action before deciding, really, don’t we?

What’s happening with Villa’s new sponsor?

Villa’s home kit has been launched sponsorless with a full photo shoot two days before it hits the racks at Villa’s club shops.

There are various possibilities here but it’s interesting that Villa have opted to push the kit out without a main sponsor. As far as we know, there’s no reason to expect the club to fail to secure a new primary partner.

If the shirt going on sale without a sponsor in May with a sponsor to come, why rush it out?

If there will be a sponsor in place tomorrow or on Thursday before the kit goes on sale, why shoot and launch without it?

It will all become clear in the days and weeks to come but the possible opportunity to buy a sponsorless shirt isn’t always the win it might appear. Some supporters like to buy a shirt without a brand smacked in the middle of it but there are lots who’d prefer to wear the same(ish) design as the players.

I don’t think there’s anything concerning happening but I’m very curious about the decisions behind the rollout.

More photos? More photos.

Villa’s new home shirt will be available from 9am on Thursday, May 28 at Villa Park, at the Bullring store, and online.

“History says, ‘don’t hope
on this side of the grave’

“But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave

”Of justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme.”

You might think it disrespectful to compare the struggle of the Irish to a 30-year trophy drought, but Aston Villa have won fuck all since the Good Friday Agreement.

2. Then again, the Arctic Monkeys once sang:

“Anticipation has a habit to set you up,
For disappointment in evening entertainment books.”

3. Despite spanning two continents, there was no possible middle ground in Istanbul

The opposition, the previous few years and Unai Emery’s Europa League pedigree meant heroic failure wasn’t an option. There was a horrible feeling that it was going to be Villa’s best or worst night for 44 years.

4. A pre-match thought that I couldn’t get out of my head:

There’s a good chance it was never going to get better than this. My rational head says that Villa almost certainly won’t win the Premier League or Champions League in our lifetimes, and while an FA Cup win would touch parts of my soul that the Europa League could never, the intoxicating mix of second-tier European glory and a 30-year wait feels, perhaps, unsurpassable.

Drink it in lads; these are the good old days.

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5. The Villa coach drove through the throng of Villa fans as we walked down the hill to the stadium.

Surrounded by flares, screams and flashing lights, Emery stared straight ahead. I will for the rest of my life tell people that this was the moment I knew we’d win. The truth is, I’d have killed for a smile and wave.

6. The five minutes before halftime have, finally, after 16-and-a-half years, knocked Zat Knight’s injury time sliced equaliser against Arsenal on Boxing Day off the top of my objectively correct ‘most intense celebrations at the Villa’ list.

7. We could write essays about every fucking one of them couldn’t we?

The underdogs, the broken toys, the ones that reach heights they never thought possible. But to highlight any one of them would be a disservice to the others.

8. Ok fine, Emi Buendía.

You’ve proved us all wrong. In fact, you did it twice because we all wrote you off again for the first few months of the year and you’ve been the best player over the greatest few weeks of our lives. You bloody brilliant bastard.

9. But that’s it. Just him.

10. My mate started crying at half time.

The closest I got was when Emiliano Martínez got Emery up on his shoulders. Maybe it was the sight of Emery finally, publicly, accepting the love we have for him. Maybe I was just exhausted. We’ll never know.

11. Thoughts turned to those who weren’t there.

The ones too old, or too young, or too bound up in the messiness of the real world, to travel. Or those who are no longer there at all.

12. Ignore number 9. We couldn’t not talk about John McGinn, could we?

What do you want? The goals? The arse? The way he’s dragged the time out of the gutter multiple times this season.

Nope, it’s the kneeslides in front of the Villa fans with his nephews. Maybe the reason he can do the former is because he’s the kind of man who does the latter. Nothing makes me prouder to be a Villa fan than knowing that man is our captain.

13. I booked flights to take my lad to the UEFA Super Cup in Salzburg.

I wasn’t going to let him miss this in August. He was back home celebrating a win and mourning a dead fish. He got a new one the next day and called it Unai.

Yet Aston Villa showed up at Manchester City and sweated out their hangovers with a 2-1 win, denying the sixth-placed Cherries a place in the Champions League and ensuring their own status above Liverpool in fourth.

And, honestly, fair play to them for that. I didn’t care one jot about this match but I’m full of admiration for the fact that Emery is the kind of manager who did.

This was Villa’s first league double over City since 1962-63 and the first win there in a league match for nineteen years.

Here’s your Holy Trinity of match conclusions:

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Aston Villa made eight changes from the Premier League win over Liverpool that confirmed their spot in next season’s Champions League but had the desire to dig deep and pull off a fine 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium. They finalised a fourth-placed finish in the process.

Ollie Watkins scored both of Villa’s goals, ultimately closing the Champions League door on AFC Bournemouth by keeping Liverpool in fifth place, as they would have done regardless of Phil Foden’s late disallowed goal.

You’ve got to respect Unai Emery and his players for having enough left in the tank to achieve a result like this.

Here are the ratings:

Marco Bizot - 7

Stood up well and got his technique right to block Bernardo Silva’s near-post shot inside the first 12 minutes. Made a fantastic save from Tijjani Reijnders just before the break.

Andrés García - 3

Savinho was willing to face him up at every opportunity, promising a tough afternoon. Didn’t have the acceleration to keep pace with the Brazilian over short distances. Slightly lazy header from a corner to inadvertently tee up the opening goal and wobbled subsequently. Substituted at half time.

Victor Lindelöf - 7

Returned to centre-back, where his defensive instincts came in handy on the cover. Comfortable with the ball throughout and more than capable of a mid-range pass to break the lines. Substituted in the middle of the second half.

Tyrone Mings - 7

Showed patience and ambition on the ball even with City pressing. Cleared the ball from under the nose of Nathan Aké from a corner while being fouled, prompting a ludicrous VAR check for a penalty. Highly competent performance at the back from a top defender.

Ian Maatsen - 6

Gave away a corner with an air clearance after four minutes but his defensive positioning was important in the early part of the game. Occasionally looked a threat going the other way, especially after the break. Tested less after Antoine Semenyo went off.

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Lamare Bogarde - 5

Few touches in the first 30 minutes but looked relatively comfortable dropping a shoulder to beat a man and was mostly effective with his passing. Went off with 20 minutes left.

Douglas Luiz - 6

Played a calm and simple game in midfield but couldn’t find the step up when trying to pass with more aggression. Settled really nicely into possession in the second half and grew in confidence. Substituted with quarter of the game to go.

Leon Bailey - 4

First two involvements characterised by sloppiness but the third was much more impressive. Not enough quality on the ball in key moments for a United Counties League match. Couldn’t do anything to support his full-back facing Savinho.

Decent dead ball delivery for Villa’s equaliser. Smashed the post with 15 minutes left with Watkins waiting for a tap-in.

Ross Barkley - 6

Formed a front two with Watkins out of possession but dropped into midfield looking for the ball on the few occasions when Villa had it. Really came into his own with the ball early in the second half, driving Villa on in transition and looking at his best with space opening up in front of him.

Tremendous pass to claim the assist – kind of – for Watkins’ second.

Emi Buendía - 7

Had to defend a lot on the right and was never shy about getting stuck in against Semenyo. Frequently got the better of him early on but Villa in general wilted after conceding. Led the way with a strong second period with and without the ball, winning it back on the counter-press and making things happen. What a player.

Ollie Watkins - 7

Showed one flash of elite centre-forward play with his back to goal early in the game but Villa couldn’t get him involved at all before half time. Smuggled in Villa’s equaliser from a corner early in the vastly second half, claiming the 20th goal of the season he craved and proving he just needs service and confidence.

Followed up with a stunning second goal to put Villa in front.

Substitutes

Matty Cash (for García, HT) - On at the break and dealt with Savinho by playing on the front foot and nullifying his attacking pace. 6

Youri Tielemans (for Luiz, 73) - Protected and moved the ball nicely during a late cameo. 6

Amadou Onana (for Bogarde, 73) - Won the ball back with a thumping tackle facing his own goal with ten minutes left. 6

Pau Torres (for Lindelöf, 73) - Nearly got himself a late goal at the back post from a free kick. Called into action a few times in stoppage time. 6

John McGinn (for Barkley, 86) - Late substitute. N/A

Aston Villa have done what they needed to do in the 2025/26. All of it. Be drunk if you want; you’ve earned it. Be hungover on a matchday. Show up at Manchester City on Sunday with your bucket and spade. I do not care.

There was a world in which this match at the Etihad could have meant nothing to Villa and everything to Man City. There might have been a few more supporters who’d have some expectation on the team to at least take the game seriously to protect the competitive integrity of the Premier League, such as it is.

I am not one of those supporters either. Villa won the Europa League and can’t finish outside the top five. They would have owed Arsenal absolutely nothing.

They’ve done their job for the season and made themselves legends to boot. I don’t care about this game. I don’t care about it even slightly. I don’t care about finishing above Liverpool.

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Aston Villa breezed through the Coca-Cola Cup final against Leeds United. They would never again win a cup final at the old Wembley Stadium.

Eleven is the best age for thinking everything lasts forever. Villa were so emphatic in their two finals that I just assumed they’d be hoisting another cup before long.

My primary school arranged some Wembley visits to watch a former pupil playing for England Schoolboys. I went to England matches before and after EURO 96. Wembley became normal and I learned the hard way that it wasn’t.

Watching Villa win the Europa League final on Wednesday was surreal. I went to most of Villa’s home matches in the UEFA Cup in the nineties and the idea of actually winning it never came up.

It’s different now but the trophy is the trophy and you can only win the tournament that’s in front of you. All my nervousness between the semi-final against Nottingham Forest and the final against Freiburg was the self-inflicted result of being unable to imagine losing in Istanbul.

Now, in the glow of victory, I feel a bit silly for getting worked up about that. We had all the data; Villa were the favourites for a reason. Unai Emery knew what was required. It was never going to end any other way.

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The greater part of football is mundanity. For most teams in most seasons, it’s a slog in vain.

It’s in the normal, in the unspectacular, that I wallow. One has to really love football to tolerate it sometimes and I do so happily, but it can come with a tacit acceptance that silverware is for other clubs.

Not anymore.

It still hasn’t really sunk in. Seeing John McGinn lifting the trophy in Istanbul was just the first step in processing what Villa have achieved. Stage two hasn’t arrived yet.

The Europa League trophy now stands at Villa Park with the Football League first division trophy, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the European Cup – I haven’t wrapped my head around that.

There’s an acute context as well as the historic one. Villa had waited thirty years for a trophy and forty-four years for a European title. They were also determined to cap today’s Villa, Emery’s Villa, with the trophy they and we felt they were capable of winning.

The final was satisfying because all of that mattered.

There was a sense outside the club that Villa were favourites to win the Europa League from the start and would cruise through the final against a team dismissively referred to as the seventh-best in the Bundesliga. Freiburg being disrespected on our behalf did nothing to settle my stomach.

If the players felt even a fraction of the nerves that made me feel physically sick for most of the final day, the performance they produced was miraculous.

Emery mapped out a textbook Villa display. Villa had the match in their grip from kick-off, felt their way into the match and then took the final away from Freiburg in a few exhilarating minutes at the end of the first half. The game plan was executed exactly as it was drawn up.

Memories of Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa defending in their slippers will fade.

Eventually, we’ll forget Matty Cash and Lucas Digne doing their bit with aplomb.

The contribution of Victor Lindelöf will live on in law but it won’t be long before it’s too distant to picture that much of it.

Emiliano Martínez played with a broken finger but he doesn’t like to talk about it.

Ollie Watkins didn’t score and nobody cares because he was awesome again, but, as recollections diminish, it’s the goals that will catch the mind’s eye.

The goals. The goals! Incredible.

The clipped pass from Morgan Rogers was so precise that I was off and running even before Youri Tielemans smashed in a volley to put Villa in front.

The sensational left-footed Emi Buendía curler to put the trophy in McGinn’s hands before half time.

Rogers poking in at the near post to turn the second half into a half-hour celebration.

These are the moments. This is what this whole thing is all about. That is how McGinn and Tyrone Mings became European champions seven years after their professionalism, dedication and leadership helped to get Villa out of the Championship.

Football legends are made of these things. Understanding what that means, the extent of it, has thus far proved beyond me.

He said it three times, didn’t he? Unai Emery. Was it quirkiness, or did he know?

Away to Olympiacos, dreams shattered. At home against Paris Saint-Germain, hope burning out. Here, in Istanbul…

Three times. That’s the charm.

It is around 3.00pm in Türkiye. The rain is approaching biblical proportions and is flowing down towards Beşiktaş from Taksim Square.

I am nervous. So nervous it’s almost a state of normality. Three-digit-heartrate locked in since this morning. I haven’t talked meaningfully about the game, just Aston Villa vagaries and chanting.

8.00pm. Nerves still haven’t settled. Downpours haven’t cooled the tension.

It’s 10.00pm. The stadium breathes in, and kicks off.

It’s 10.40pm. You could’ve been forgiven for thinking the half of football was slipping away. You were already thinking about penalties, weren’t you?

Then there’s a corner. Passed short. Innocuous. It’s flicked over. It hangs forever. Is this what it comes down to? Another corner just like this?

And then it’s struck. And then it’s in. You don’t celebrate. You don’t realise. The Villa players run towards one of their own. Then it hits. Villa are in front. Good lord. A shoulder hits you in the chin, you struggle to stand on your own, bodies fall over yours and then you’re back. I’m told it was brilliant.

Before you can even digest that, it’s there again, but this time with grace. It’s struck and it was always, always, always going in. You’re on the floor. You’re back up. Villa are 2-0 up in a European final.

But there’s one more. It slides in. Three in total.

Youri Tielemans, Emi Buendía, Morgan Rogers.

Europe. Europe. Europe.

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What is the biggest day of your football supporting life meant to be like? How are you meant to feel when you could’ve never expected something, never wished for it, and here it is, happening, so confidently before your eyes?

The trophy is lifted and it sparkles. There’s applause, and tears. The floodgates open, rain falls and the thunder claps.

Aston Villa are European champions once again.

Villa will take on German Bundesliga side Freiburg in the Europa League final in Istanbul on Wednesday and it means everything. Unai Emery and his team ensured that a Champions League place is already settled – this is about the trophy.

Thirty years without silverware is too long but the truth is Villa as a club have deserved almost every day of it, one way or another. As nebulous a notion ‘deserve’ is in football, the bottom line is this Villa team have to win this one.

Emery has to win it. John McGinn has to win it. Tyrone Mings has to win it. Ollie Watkins has to win it. Every player who came in and helped turn a relegation-ready team into a challenger has to win it.

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Villa will never have another chance to make that happen with this squad. It’s such pressure I feel claustrophobic just as a supporter in the Midlands. That’s what the players must handle in Turkey.

The form book

Both teams are heading into the final on a high. Villa won 4-2 against Liverpool in their most recent Premier League match, confirming a Champions League place. Freiburg beat RB Leipzig 4-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday afternoon.

They finished the season in seventh place, meaning they’re currently in possession of a place in next season’s Conference League play-off round. They’d love to upgrade that this week.

Current form:
FRE – 🟢🟢🔴🟠🔴🟢 (Bundesliga)
AVL – 🟠🟢🔴🔴🟠🟢 (Premier League)

Villa and Freiburg both ended up in the top eight after the league phase, Villa in second and their final opponents in seventh. Both went straight to the round of 16.

Emery’s team beat Lille 3-0 on aggregate and then put seven past Bologna in the quarter-finals, winning all four legs. Freiburg came out on top against Genk and Celta Vigo even more comfortably.

Both teams had to overcome first-leg defeats to win their semi-final ties, Villa against Nottingham Forest and Freiburg against Braga.

The top goalscorers left in the competition are McGinn, Watkins and Freiburg’s Vincenzo Grifo. They’ve scored five goals each in this season’s Europa League and the Italian’s fifth was the crucial goal in defeat in the first leg against Braga.

Since the Bundesliga returned from its Winterpause, Freiburg have won eight and lost eight of their nineteen league fixtures – that would put them bottom of the top half but well clear of the team in tenth.

Aston Villa team news

Amadou Onana – Missed the last four games with a calf injury but is back in training and will be assessed before the game.

Victor Lindelöf – Substituted at half time against Liverpool, apparently as no more than a precaution.

Alysson – Not yet back from injury and omitted from the Europa League squad.

Ross Barkley – Not included in the European squad.

Boubacar Kamara – Out for the season after knee surgery.

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Embrace destiny

Since Villa’s second-leg walloping of Forest, captain McGinn and vice-captain Ezri Konsa have both publicly discussed the need to embrace their situation. It’s hard to put that situation into adequate words.

This final can go either of two ways but only one of them bears thinking about. Let’s get the other one out of the way right here and right now: Villa could lose in Istanbul. If there’s any complacency, any dip in quality, that’s exactly what will happen.

The prize for Emery and these Villa players is almost beyond comprehension. There are football clubs who’ve had a rougher ride, many doldrums worse than ours, but Villa are so close to a second European trophy that the yearning is quite suddenly off the charts.

Villa’s players have a chance to become immortal at a football club with many kings but few gods.

Players don’t join those ranks by qualifying for Europe, or by winning the Coca-Cola Cup, or by finishing fifth or fourth or third or second in the league. I adore the team that got Villa promoted and I mean that sincerely, but winning the Europa League would overshadow even that.

We’re talking about Brian Little, Gordon Cowans and Paul McGrath. Dennis Mortimer. Tony Morley and Peter Withe. Gary Shaw. Ron Saunders. Peter McParland and Johnny Dixon. George Ramsay. William McGregor.

We’re talking about true Aston Villa icons forever.

It’s all right there in front of you, Villa boys. Go and take it.

Freiburg v Aston Villa is an 8.00pm kick-off on Wednesday 20th May.

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Aston Villa still have Wednesday’s Europa League final to win but reaching that stage and getting there with a Champions League place already in the bag makes this an excellent season come what may in Istanbul.

They’ve achieved what they have in a strange way and the first five games will live long in the memory, but Villa have now reached the level of zero complaints when it comes to the season as a whole.

Friday night’s 4-2 win over Liverpool at Villa Park secured the first objective for the season. What a way to set themselves up for one last big push to add the silverware to put 2025/26 over the top.

Here’s your Holy Trinity of match conclusions:

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Aston Villa beat Liverpool 4-2 to move into fourth place and confirm their top-five finish in the Premier League, booking their spot in Europe’s premier club competition in the process.

Villa scored at good times. Liverpool were on top, Villa scored. Liverpool equalised, Villa scored. Liverpool made some sort of noise about going for it, Villa scored. Then scored again.

It could be argued that 4-2 flattered Liverpool and that Virgil van Dijk’s two goals, while sloppy defensively from a Villa point of view, were mere footnotes.

Here are the ratings:

Emiliano Martínez - 6

Poor kick-out after 12 minutes and again five minutes later but his teammates bailed him out. Spilled a shot to the feet of Cody Gakpo, who was offside. Saved much more cleanly from Dominik Szoboszlai after half an hour.

Got off his line quickly on a couple of occasions in the second half and saved well from Federico Chiesa with eight minutes to go.

Matty Cash - 6

Handled his business relatively well in a tough direct duel against Rio Ngumoha with plenty of support from his teammates but the winger was always a threat. One shot and some final passes left a bit to be desired. Got away with a dangerous throw-in to nobody in the middle of the first half but generally very reliable with the ball.

Too soft for Liverpool’s equaliser. Given a ridiculous yellow card.

Ezri Konsa - 7

Good feet under pressure to turn Gakpo in his own box in the first half. Competent with the ball and rarely called into serious individual defensive action. Took up residence in the capacious head of Alexis Mac Allister in the final quarter of the game.

Pau Torres - 7

Leant on his reading of the game to marshal the back line. Won some important headers in the Villa penalty area. Occasionally able to play neat passes through or into midfield. Superb standing tackle to stop a Szoboszlai run on the hour. Sensational clipped pass in behind for Lucas Digne in the middle of the second half.

Lucas Digne - 7

Covered well to clear a cross from the Liverpool left early in the game and demonstrated solid one-on-one defending on the left. Played a big part in the goal that put Villa in front and claimed the assist as a result. Battled his cœur out with Villa in the lead.

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Victor Lindelöf - 6

Key to Villa playing out with his back to goal, linking with Konsa and turning the ball out for Cash on the right. Useful aerial presence at the base of the midfield but was withdrawn at half time.

Youri Tielemans - 6

First proper pass was a pinpoint clip over the top but he wasn’t able to get involved much in possession as Liverpool started to control the game in the middle of the first half. Started to come into the game at 1-0, looking after the ball and coming up with some strong running in possession. Longer passing was a mixed bag.

John McGinn - 8

Seemed to have all the time in the world on the ball. Started quickly to win the ball back from a sleeping opponent in the second minute. Seemed to have all the time in the world on the ball and used it well consistently. Shared the 1-0 pre-assist with Austin MacPhee. Curled a stunning fourth into the top corner with two minutes to go.

Morgan Rogers - 7

Strong run and clever supply for Ollie Watkins after an early turnover. Not decisive enough on a couple of occasions in the final third – that can happen with an instinctive creative player but it has to come with something special more often than it has of late. We got it here in the form of a superbly taken opening goal just before the break.

Sent in a few smart crosses that were dangerous more than precise, and ruthlessly punished Szoboszlai’s slip for 2-1.

Emi Buendía - 7

Full of graft out of possession and was able to win the ball and fouls on the counter-press. Defended resolutely in front of the Villa goal at set plays. Clever through ball for Watkins that led to a good chance in the first half. Hit the bar and post in one with a wonderful shot with 20 minutes left. Substituted late.

Ollie Watkins - 9

Had his first shot on target on the turn in the second minute. Skinned Virgil van Dijk but blazed over a few minutes later. Limited involvement in the first half after a busy start but held the ball up nicely when Villa got into the attacking third. Smuggled in Villa’s second goal after Szoboszlai slipped.

Could have had a hat-trick even before he tucked in Villa’s third goal from close range to crown a terrific second half.

Substitutes

Ross Barkley (for Lindelöf, HT) - On at half time and slotted straight into the midfield two. Looked after the ball nicely with his first involvement. Looked capable of creating something when he was able to get the ball out in front of him and run. 6

Ian Maatsen (for Buendía, 84) - Late substitute. N/A

Douglas Luiz (for Tielemans, 90) - Late substitute. N/A

Jadon Sancho (for McGinn, 90) -Late substitute. N/A

Villa need to finish in the top five places in the Premier League until such time as they don’t. To see things any other way would be to take the Europa League final for granted, which couldn’t be more stupid.

What should be a matter of balancing priorities is in fact more like one must-win match after another, yet the timing – and this is down to nothing other than Villa’s failings on the pitch – means that Friday’s league game against Liverpool must be outranked by Istanbul.

Unai Emery will name a team for this match with the final in mind. He’ll believe they can win it and he might be right.

As little faith as I have in Villa to pull off a passable second-string performance, the issue against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend was to do with attitude and appetite, not ability.

Liverpool, Villa’s Premier League opponents on Friday, are beatable. There’s been little suggestion in recent weeks that Villa will beat them in these circumstances but stranger things happen in football every day.

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Aston Villa picked up one Premier League point from matches against relegation-threatened Tottenham Hotspur and relegation-sorted Burnley, leaving themselves vulnerable in the Champions League places with only fixtures against Liverpool and Manchester City remaining.

The Europa League final in between will have an effect for sure, which is why winning one of the previous two matches was so important. It wasn’t to be.

I don’t think the Spurs and Burnley matches had much in common. Villa didn’t throw the game against Burnley away in the same way as the previous league match against Spurs.

A little bit of sloppy play at inopportune moments from a couple of top performers proved very costly but I’d assess this as an average overall performance rather than a disastrous one.

Villa should already be over the line in the league. Instead, Emery and his players must now pull off something a bit special.

Here’s your Holy Trinity of Burnley match conclusions:

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Aston Villa had a much better attitude against Burnley but a 2-2 draw at Turf Moor in the Premier League showed just how damaging it can be to leave points on the table when there are so few remaining.

Unai Emery’s team conceded early and slowly clawed their way into the game, scoring before and after half time to briefly take the lead. But when you need a win, conceding twice is a pretty good way to give yourselves a problem.

It was another frustrating league outing for Villa, who are now very likely to need something from the last two fixtures against Liverpool and Manchester City. With a European final in between, that’s as worrying as it was avoidable.

Here are the ratings:

Emiliano Martínez - 6

Saved from Lesley Ugochukwu but palmed the ball straight to Jaidon Anthony to open the scoring – a split-second error but a costly one. Forced to take on a player in front of goal a minute into the second half and handled it well. Nothing he could do about Burnley’s second.

Pinged a brilliant long pass in behind for Morgan Rogers a minute later, showing fantastic vision and execution, which were on display again as he got an assist for Ollie Watkins to make it 2-1.

Matty Cash - 4

Looked to get forward on the right and was one of Villa’s most involved attacking players in the first quarter of the game. Caught in possession in the build-up to Burnley’s equalising goal and again in their half just before he was substituted.

Ezri Konsa - 6

Slipped in front of his own goal to allow Zian Flemming a chance from which he should have scored but otherwise solid defensively and with the ball. Did well one-on-one to stop Anthony on the break.

Tyrone Mings - 5

Had to have his wits about him as the last man on turnovers but far too casual in possession at times. Increased the rate of forward passes in the second half, finding Villa feet regularly.

Ian Maatsen - 4

Outsmarted by Loum Tchaouna in the fourth minute, which was a bad sign of what was to come in a difficult first 35 minutes. Made a good run early in the second half but overcooked it and took the ball over the byline. Substituted with just over quarter of an hour left.

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Victor Lindelöf - 7

Started in midfield again and was the first Villa player to nip in and pinch the ball after Burnley started on the front foot. Key winner of aerial balls. Sharp and composed passing at the base of the midfield. Did his bit defensively in transition too. Substituted after 73 minutes.

Youri Tielemans - 5

Too slow with the ball as Burnley made a determined start. Villa were most able to play through the lines when Tielemans got on the ball. Forced Max Weiss to tip over a shot from 20 yards late in the first period.

John McGinn - 6

Tremendous pass to Morgan Rogers in the third minute. Gradually started to get involved but his final ball in the first 30 minutes was lacking and set piece delivery was poor until a perfect corner to set up Ross Barkley’s header. Won another corner with a thumping half-volley that was blocked. Protected the ball brilliantly at times.

Didn’t make the most of a couple of late chances at the back post and went off with five minutes left.

Ross Barkley - 6

Lack of pace in transition was limiting but the quality of his passing helped to balance it out. Villa didn’t really feed him, which would be the only way to get a proper impact out of him. More effective when he dropped deeper. Made some good contributions in the press. Moved into midfield after Villa’s first substitutions.

Dragged a good chance wide after half an hour but got all of a shot from outside the box in the 42nd minute, and glanced in the equaliser from the resulting corner. Substituted late.

Morgan Rogers - 5

Good movement but poor finish in the first few minutes. Started to get into the game as he drifted inwards from the left and did some excellent tracking back in the first half. Quick reaction and quality cross to set up Watkins’ disallowed header.

Ollie Watkins - 6

Very nearly spot-on movement for yet another close-range goal, this time a disallowed header. Limited involvement in the first half but showed the strength of his all-round frontman’s game.

Gave the ball away to give Burnley a chance after the break just as they were in the ascendancy but tucked the ball in to give Villa the lead not 30 seconds later. Superb finish after escaping the defenders. Nearly had an assist for Barkley at 2-2.

Substitutes

Emi Buendía (for Lindelöf, 74) - Standard Buendía fare. Villa’s biggest threat while he was on the pitch. 7

Lucas Digne (for Maatsen, 74) - First contribution was a great cross for McGinn and did his defensive duties. 6

Douglas Luiz (for Barkley, 80) - Late substitute. N/A

Lamare Bogarde (for Cash, 80) - Late substitute. N/A

Leon Bailey (for McGinn, 85) - Late substitute. N/A

Aston Villa booked their place in the final with a win over Nottingham Forest but there’s work to be done in the league too and they can’t afford to take their eye off the ball. At least, not yet.

The focus for Unai Emery this weekend is on the push for a Champions League berth through Villa’s position in the Premier League, an objective that would be a step closer to being met with a win over Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday.

It’s clear that Emery is trying to manage his squad through two competitions and it’s not easy. The performance against Tottenham Hotspur a week ago was all the evidence of that you could need.

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Aston Villa beat Nottingham Forest 4-0 on the night and 4-0 on aggregate to win their Europa League semi-final and set up a final against Freiburg in Istanbul in a couple of weeks’ time. They were magnificent.

Villa played with such fire. It was wonderful to watch and gratifying to see them get the reward for their efforts. This was a historic night for the club, which now stands 90 minutes away from glory. If they play like that again, with that level of intent and desire, they’ll get what they deserve.

I’d hope Villa immediately turned their attentions to Sunday’s match at Burnley, for there is work still to be done in the Premier League, but I’m still basking in this one just as I wallowed miserably in the Spurs performance.

Here’s your Holy Trinity of match conclusions:

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