No one has done it: A famous Premier League manager is striving to create a new legend after reaching the European cup final.
On 8 May 2026, an interesting story unfolded after Aston Villa convincingly defeated fellow Premier League side Nottingham Forest 4-0 at home in the second leg of the 2025-26 Europa League semi-final last night.
This victory allowed Aston Villa to edge past Nottingham Forest and reach the UEFA Europa League (UEL) final with a 4-1 aggregate after losing the first leg 0-1. It marks Villa's first European cup final appearance in 44 years, since winning the European Cup (now the UEFA Champions League) in 1982.
Meanwhile, Unai Emery has made history again by reaching the Europa League final for the sixth time in his managerial career, with Aston Villa becoming the fourth club the Spanish coach has led to this final stage, as follows:
2013-14 season: Sevilla (champions)
2014-15 season: Sevilla (champions)
2015-16 season: Sevilla (champions)
2018-19 season: Arsenal (runners-up)
2020-21 season: Villarreal (champions)
2025-26 season: Aston Villa ( ? )
Besides Unai Emery, Diego Simeone is the only other manager to have won the Europa League more than once since the competition was renamed and reformatted from the UEFA Cup in 2009, having won it twice with Atlético Madrid in the 2011-12 and 2017-18 seasons.
Wednesday night, 20 May 2026
02:00 – Freiburg vs Aston Villa
Venue: Beşiktaş Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey
