Emery

Emery’s previous four were already a competition record and while he dismissed the suggestion he was a European king, he is a serial winner.

It now six finals and five wins – with the latest cementing a legacy at Villa Park which will last decades.

Villa officials were nervous talking about the trophy parade in advance, which needed to be organised ahead of time given the disruption in Birmingham, but the squad will flaunt it in the city Thursday afternoon.

Emery said: “I am thankful to [co-owners] Nassef [Sawiris] and Wes [Edens]… they are supporting always. I am thankful to the supporters and I am thankful for the players.

“All the times I am successful in this competition I needed good players. Now I am so thankful for the players, they are following our ambitions.

“They are protagonists on the field. This is the reason I am not feeling the king in this competition. I am feeling really thankful – we are the kings together.

“After 1982 the club won the European Cup, it was something they were missing – the supporters – a trophy. Achieving this one is making us so, so happy but we are not going to stop.”

If Tielemans’ volley – rounding off a short corner routine – gave them the platform then Buendia’s curler into the top corner put one hand on the trophy.

Former Villa midfielder Ian Taylor, a fan of the club who scored in the 1996 League Cup win – the last time Villa had won major silverware – leaped out of his press box chair and punched the air.

Rogers’ third had the substitutes celebrating on the pitch and an airborne Emery jumping on the touchline with clenched fists. Victory was assured.

“I feel amazing,” Tielemans told TNT. “My voice is a bit gone but it’s all good. We put in a shift, a top performance, we had a great season. To top it off with this is amazing.

“It’s been a season with a lot of ups and downs. We started so so bad. Our standards were very poor.

“The way we turned things around was a credit to the players and staff. We kept working, believing. We got the win in the end, Champions League next season and a trophy.”

At Besiktas Park on Wednesday, Emery will stand on the touchline for his sixth Europa League final in 12 years.

He lost the 2019 final to Chelsea while at Arsenal, where his 18-month reign was seen as a failure.

But he has more triumphs in the competition than any other manager; three with Sevilla – in 2014, 2015 and 2016 – when they beat Liverpool – before a penalty shootout victory over Manchester United with Villarreal in 2021.

Emery, though, insists that will mean nothing come kick-off against their Bundesliga rivals.

“I am not a king in this competition,” he said. “I am now here with Aston Villa in a new chapter. Everything I did is done and of course it’s there in that moment but with it I am not winning.

“I need to win [in Turkey] with the players we have now, with Villa now. So now it’s a new way, a new moment, and hopefully a new era.

“If you are not respecting the opponent, you are closer to losing. If you are not respecting Europe, like we did during the process, we are not here. This is the strong mentality we had before.

“We have a huge challenge, a huge challenge. Are we thinking about the next party on Friday? No, no.”

The former Paris St Germain boss has managed 115 games in the Europa League, winning 71, and his best win rate in the competition is his 85.7% with Villa.

Those wins are a competition record. And since the start of 2023-24, no side has won more European matches than Villa’s tally of 26.

Emery – bizarrely overlooked in the Premier League’s Manager of the Season nominations – spoke to his players on Saturday morning, a debrief following Friday’s 4-2 win over Liverpool which sealed Champions League qualification.

He also reminded them about the journey the club has been on since he replaced Steven Gerrard in late 2022 – a Europa Conference League semi-final, a Champions League quarter-final and two top-five finishes.

Emery has needed a way with words at times, refusing to lay into his players at half-time during the abject defeat by Tottenham at the start of the month.

It was something the squad appreciated, a fatherly touch of reminding them of what they have achieved together.

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery was highly critical of the video assistant referee for not sending off Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson in two impassioned rants after his side’s 1-0 loss in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final.

Anderson avoided punishment for a first-half sliding tackle in which he won the ball but then caught the ankle of Ollie Watkins with a high, studs-up challenge.

Referee Joao Pinheiro did not take action – and there was only what appeared to be a very brief VAR review before the incident was cleared.

Forest would go on to win through a VAR-awarded penalty which Chris Wood scored – but Emery accepted that decision.

“Fantastic, the referee, fantastic,” Emery told TNT Sports. “But the VAR is so, so bad. It’s a clear red card – I don’t understand why the VAR is not calling the referee because it’s so clear.

“And it’s very, very important. It’s a huge, huge mistake. VAR is responsible.

“The referee – fantastic, fantastic job, 10 out of 10. I appreciated how he managed the match for 90 minutes.

“But I watched it back – wow. Huge. He could break his ankle. Wow, VAR – where are you? Please. It is your responsibility, we are professionals. You are doing very bad work because it was so clear for everybody [to see]. He could break his ankle.

“I respect the referees always but VAR, I don’t understand. It’s not fair.”