Aston Villa 2025-26 summary: Top scorer, best moment, new signings and full verdict on Unai Emery's campaign

What a difference a year makes. Twelve months on from a painful failure to crack the top five, Aston Villa are celebrating their first trophy win for a generation and looking forward to more Champions League football.

Led by 'Europa League king' Unai Emery, they lived up to their tag as favourites for UEFA's second-tier competition, with a season-long slog around Europe ultimately culminating in a memorable night in Istanbul.

Villa will be back in the big time next season, having already booked their place through the Premier League, and the claret-and-blue half of Birmingham can reflect fondly on a fantastic season. 

Here, Sports Mole provides a full summary of Aston Villa’s 2025-26 campaign.

Aston Villa 2025-26 season summary

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Yet, throughout, Villa's European progress remained smooth, and they brushed aside both Lille and familiar foes Bologna to reach the Europa League's final four in some style.

Villa Park continued to be an unbreachable fortress in continental competition, and Emery's men leaned on the support of the B6 faithful when fighting back to blast past Nottingham Forest and into the final.

With Watkins back on song and others finding their rhythm, a rampant victory over outgoing Premier League champions Liverpool then booked a crucial top-five finish, allowing Villa to focus fully on facing down Freiburg.

Shedding any nerves, two stunning goals before the break effectively ended the club's 30-year trophy drought, and a comfortable 3-0 win in Istanbul ensured Emery would bring some silverware back to Birmingham.

Despite suffering the effects of an epic after-party - which concluded with a parade around England's second city - Villa still finished by doing the double over last year's league champions.

Beating Manchester City on the final day saw them finish five points clear in fourth place and capped off a campaign that will go down in club history.

Aston Villa trophies won 2025-26: Europa League

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Not only did Villa fans have to wait three decades for a major trophy, their last taste of continental success had famously come back in 1982, when the Midlands club were crowned kings of Europe.

Having beaten Bayern Munich to lift the European Cup on that occasion, the Villans saw off more modest German opponents in this year's Europa League final, ultimately sweeping Freiburg aside. 

Guided by competition specialist Emery - who has now claimed the trophy five times - they cruised through the league phase before dumping out Lille, Bologna and Forest in the knockout rounds.

Stellar strikes by Youri Tielemans and Emi Buendia then put them in total control of the decider, before Morgan Rogers - later named Europa League player of the season - placed the cherry on top.

Aston Villa top scorer 2025-26: Ollie Watkins

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It has been a season of significant ups and downs for Aston Villa's main marksman, who recently admitted his friends openly joked he was wearing a blindfold between August and Christmas.

Still putting in the hard yards and contributing with exemplary hold-up play, Watkins barely found the net in a barren run towards the end of 2025, but he eventually made up for lost time.

Shaken up by being dropped from the England squad, the 30-year-old then tore off his 'blindfold' and embarked on a scoring streak that booked his ticket to this summer's World Cup.

From the start of April to the end of May, Watkins (11) was one of only two men across Europe's top five leagues to hit double figures across all competitions, along with international teammate Harry Kane.

And he signed off in style. A clinical double at the Etihad made him the first player in Premier League history to score braces against Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea within the same campaign.

Aston Villa player of the season 2025-26: John McGinn

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After such collective success - built on a squad first brought together by promotion-winning coach Dean Smith - selecting one individual is far from straightforward.

Europa League heroes Rogers, Tielemans and Buendia all contributed moments of magic throughout the season, while others - like defensive rock Ezri Konsa - quietly excelled.

However, the driving force behind Aston Villa's rise has been their captain, John McGinn, who is proving to be one of the club's best buys this century.

Signed for under £3m back in 2018, the Scotland star's absence was sorely felt when Villa slumped badly during a six-week spell on the sidelines; inevitably, his return soon sparked a revival. 

Not only is McGinn a much-loved skipper, he also fills various roles across midfield, and chipping in with a series of exquisite mid-range finishes has increased his worth even further.

Aston Villa's best moment of the 2025-26 season

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While Buendia’s last-gasp winner against Arsenal surely produced the biggest roar at Villa Park this season, there can really only be one contender.

The Villans' Europa League triumph ended a painful 30-year trophy drought and is - so far - the pinnacle of Emery's ambitious 'project'.

With silverware secured in confident style, his team returned to a hero's welcome in Birmingham, where thousands of claret and blue clad fans flooded the city's streets to celebrate.

Aston Villa's biggest disappointment of the 2025-26 season

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It may seem to churlish to focus on negatives amid such success, but not everything has sailed smoothly in B6 this season.

Still relying on a familiar core of players, Emery has struggled to integrate several new signings, and serious questions have been asked about Aston Villa's imperfect recruitment.

Amid tight financial restrictions, plenty of money has been wasted - the unfortunate case of Harvey Elliott being most notable - and the club must address the make-up of an ageing squad.

So, ahead of Villa's return to Europe's top table, they may need to be ruthless in moving on fringe members of the Europa League-winning squad.

Unai Emery verdict - 2025-26 season

The Villans' Basque boss has already secured legendary status, finally bringing the good times back to Villa Park.

An enduring love affair with the Europa League continued as he guided the favourites to an emphatic victory in his sixth final, while his team overachieved on the domestic front.

Disrupting the established elite once again, they finished fourth in the Premier League as Emery extracted the most from a close-knit squad, and his tactical acumen is beyond any doubt.

Also making the most of his staff - with particular focus on set-pieces - he has competed in Europe for 18 consecutive years across all three UEFA competitions, and that wealth of experience helped Villa take the next step.

Always keen to deflect any glory towards his players, the 54-year-old football obsessive can be unnervingly intense and has sometimes swerved into the bizarre - see infamous one-word interviews regarding 'Europe' and 'Marco Bizot'.

However, his endearing passion for the game - and current club - was clear for all to see in a raucous speech to the Villa Park faithful shortly before the Europa League final.

Then, on his triumphant return, Emery fittingly addressed an adoring public: "Of course, we are so, so proud of you. This moment is really fantastic; our heart is your heart, your heart is our heart!"

Aston Villa new signings 2025-26

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Aston Villa transfers: Summer 2025

Yasin Ozcan (£5.8m from Kasimpasa)

Zepiqueno Redmond (free from Feyenoord)

Marco Bizot (undisclosed from Brest)

Evann Guessand (£30m from Nice)

Victor Lindelof (free)

Harvey Elliott (loan from Liverpool)

Jadon Sancho (loan from Man United)

Aston Villa transfers: Winter 2026

Brian Madjo (£10m from FC Metz)

Alysson £8.7m (excl. £1.8m add-ons) from Gremio

Leon Bailey (end of loan from Roma)

Tammy Abraham (£18.3m from Besiktas)

Douglas Luiz (loan from Juventus)

Aston Villa 2025-26 season rating

Aston Villa have come a long way since scraping into the Premier League via a tense Championship playoff win back in 2019, and it may be tough to replicate their remarkable 2025-26 season.

After starting in second gear, they then used a superb home record to - albeit briefly - become contenders for first place in the table.

In reality, though, Emery's men ultimately stumbled into the final top four, as others below them also slipped up towards the end of an unpredictable campaign.

Still, having finished off with a major trophy and Champions League qualification, a few spells of indifferent form will be long forgotten when fans look back fondly in the decades ahead.

Overall rating: 9/10