Tielemans. Buendia. Rogers. Istanbul. A European trophy. Immortality.Aston Villa are Europa League champions, toasting a first European triumph for 44 years after outclassing Freiburg in dominant fashion at Besiktas Park and producing the high point of the club’s modern history.Villa, who won the old European Cup and the European Super Cup in 1982, have already secured a route into the Champions League through a top-five finish in the Premier League table but they will head into Europe’s premier competition next season as the reigning champions of UEFA’s secondary tournament — and after what will surely be one hell of a party in Turkey’s largest city.Meanwhile, their head coach Unai Emery, the Europa League’s most successful manager after four previous triumphs with Sevilla and Villarreal respectively, now has a fifth title to his name.Villa looked to be struggling to make inroads against their German opponents right up until the 41st minute, when Youri Tielemans emphatically opened the floodgates, drifting into space from a corner kick and before superbly volleying home from Morgan Rogers’ floated cross.With the last kick of the first half, Emiliano Buendia submitted his own goal-of-the-tournament contender with a sumptuous left-footed curler that gave Freiburg goalie Noah Atubolu no chance.With 58 minutes gone, Buendia turned provider for Rogers to start the party in earnest.Jacob Tanswell, Daniel Taylor and Thom Harris break down the main talking points from a historic Villa win.This is what it means to Aston VillaVilla’s victory is their first major trophy in three decades and first European trophy in 44 years. It rubberstamps the Emery era, marking an astonishing transformation from being just outside the Premier League relegation zone on goal difference when he arrived in October 2022 to playing three straight years in Europe and, now, becoming one of its champions.This was the time to win and Villa nailed it. They were defensively compact, typically organised and did not show any signs of possible nerves, nor caution. They went direct, played to their strengths and, in the biggest, highest-profile game of a generation, completed the job.Emery is a master in the competition and his team carried out the game plan expertly. The quest and pining from Villa fans to win a trophy, after recent near-misses in the semi-finals of the Conference League and then the FA Cup, has been accomplished.(Alex Livesey – AVFC/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)Qualifying for the Champions League is great and so too is the general consistency, but it would have been a huge shame had Villa not ended up with silverware to show for it.But they did and now, for however long this Emery era lasts, they can have no regrets.Jacob TanswellAll hail Unai Emery, the king of the Europa LeagueEmery does it againSecuring his fifth Europa League title this evening, Emery’s record in this tournament borders on the absurd.Aston Villa become the third different side with which he has lifted the trophy, having only lost one of his six finals in charge. He won three in a row with Sevilla between 2013 and 2016 — an accomplishment difficult enough given the specificity of qualifying for the competition — while Villarreal’s dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Manchester United in 2021 brought about the first piece of silverware in the Spanish club’s history.