The 2025/2026 Europa League final between German side Freiburg and English side Aston Villa will be held early this morning, at Tupras Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey.
This final will see both teams aim for glory in Europe's second-highest club competition for the first time, after neither team had ever won the tournament.
Not only will the match highlight the battle between the players on the pitch, it will also be a stage where the "king" of this tournament, Unai Emery, will face the debutant coach who reached the Europa League final, Julian Schuster.
Not only is Schuster a debutant in the final, he also started his coaching career in 2018 and is also taking charge of a team competing in European competition for the first time this season.
In comparison, Emery already knows how to win this tournament, having led a team in 108 matches in Europe's second-tier competition since 2009.
From 108 matches, he bagged 71 wins, 22 draws, and 15 losses, with a total of 227 goals scored by his team and 116 goals conceded.
Emery was nicknamed "Mister Europa League" or "King of the Europa League" after winning four of the five editions, reaching the final. The Spanish coach won three titles with Sevilla, winning back-to-back titles in 2013/2014, 2014/2015, and 2015/2016, and once with Villarreal in the 2020/2021 season.
Emery's four final wins came when his teams defeated European powerhouses, including Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool in 2015/2016 and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United.
Meanwhile, Emery's only defeat came when he was in charge of Arsenal in 2018/2019, when they were defeated in the final by Chelsea, who were then managed by Maurizio Sarri.
The closest Emery is to the most successful manager in the Europa League is Giovanni Trapattoni, with three titles: two with Juventus and one with Inter Milan. Trapattoni, the 87-year-old Italian coach, retired from football in 2013.
