Article by Maria Olteanu – Published on Thursday, 21 May 2026, 00:01 / Updated on Thursday, 21 May 2026 00:01
Unai Emery (54 years old), the Spanish technician of Aston Villa, fixed his name in history, after another triumph in the Europa Leaguehis favorite competition, which he won on Wednesday night in Istanbul for the fifth time in his career.
Aston Villa prevailed without the right to appeal on Wednesday evening, score 3-0, in the last act of the Europa League, the second most valuable competition on the continent, against Freiburg. Tielemans (41), Buendia (45+3) and Rogers (58) scored the winning goals in the game on the Bosphorus as Unai Emery lifted his fifth Europa League trophy.
Throughout his career, he was on the bench six times in the last act of the Europa League, managing to triumph five times.
Unai Emery, the most titled technician in the Europa League
Until Wednesday night's final, Unai Emery had won the last leg of the Europa League four times: in 2014, 2015 and 2016 with Sevilla and 2021 with Villarreal. He had already entered history, being the most titled in the competition, and after the victory with Freiburg, his record is even richer, reaching the fifth final won.
To the five finals won, there is also one lost, in 2019, on Arsenal's bench, score 1-4 against Chelsea.
Unai Emery, the most titled technician in the Europa League // photo: X @433
“I'm not king in this competition, I have to win with Villa”, said the technician before the final in Istanbul.
On Wednesday night, Unai Emery presided over his sixth European Cup final, the only coach with more on the record being Giovanni Trapattoni (7).
Aston Villa have already secured Champions League qualification by finishing in the top five in the Premier League, but their success in the final could see England field 6 teams in the continent's biggest competition.
