At Villa Park Stadium, Aston Villa created an earthquake when defeating Nottingham Forest 4-0, thereby winning a ticket to the Europa League final with a total score of 4-1 after two legs. This is also the first time since the European championship feat in 1982 that the Birmingham team has returned to a continental final.
The match started quite balanced before a turning point appeared at the beginning of the second half. Ollie Watkins scored the opening goal, bringing the situation back to balance.
Continuous pressure from Unai Emery's students caused the Nottingham Forest defense to collapse. Emiliano Buendia increased the score to 2-0 from the penalty spot, before captain John McGinn shined with a double to complete a resounding victory for the Premier League representative.
For Emery personally, this is the sixth time he has brought a club to the Europa League final, further affirming the position of one of the most successful strategists in this arena.
In the remaining semi-final, Freiburg also made history by defeating Braga 3-1 to win a ticket to the next round with a total score of 4-3. The Bundesliga representative benefited greatly when Braga lost a player from the 6th minute after a direct red card.
Taking advantage of the numerical advantage, Lukas Kubler and Johan Manzambi respectively scored to help Freiburg take a 2-0 lead in the first half. In the second half, Kubler completed a double to increase the gap for the German team.
Although Braga scored a goal to narrow the score at the end of the match and created great pressure, young goalkeeper Noah Atubolu still played excellently to maintain the victory for Freiburg.
The 2025-2026 Europa League final will be a competition between Aston Villa and Freiburg. The match is scheduled to take place at dawn on May 21 (Vietnam time) at Besiktas Park in Istanbul, Türkiye.
