Preview: Freiburg vs Aston Villa - prediction, team news, lineups

Meeting in Istanbul for the 2026 Europa League Final, competition favourites Aston Villa and plucky outsiders Freiburg will both go for glory on Wednesday evening.

While the English side have been waiting 30 years for some major silverware, their opponents' drought dates back more than a century.

Match preview

After reaching the Conference League semis in 2024 and the Champions League quarter-finals last season, Aston Villa intend to take the next step and claim their first continental trophy for more than a generation.

Several decades have passed since the Midlands club beat Bayern Munich to be crowned kings of Europe, but they will now meet another German team with Europa League glory up for grabs.

En route to the final, Villa won all but one game as they finished second in the league phase, before easing past Lille and Bologna to set up a semi-final showdown with Nottingham Forest.

Though Forest seized the lead in an eagerly anticipated all-English tie, their Premier League rivals then produced a stunning second leg performance back at Villa Park.

Long-serving captain John McGinn fittingly scored the last two goals in an emphatic 4-0 home win, as the Villans revived dreams of their first major trophy since 1996.

Having subsequently drawn 2-2 with Burnley, Villa then enjoyed the perfect preparation for this week's trip to Turkey, putting four goals past Liverpool on Friday night.

Not only did that result take Unai Emery's men above their visitors into fourth place, it also sealed a Champions League spot with one game to spare, allowing them to fully focus on Wednesday.

Set to start the final as favourites, no side has won more matches in European competition than Villa's 26 since the start of 2023-24, while only Arsenal (19) have kept more clean sheets (16).

Furthermore, their Basque boss is a proven expert at this level: a four-time Europa League winner, Emery will become just the second coach to manage four different clubs in UEFA finals, following in the footsteps of Jose Mourinho.

Having just celebrated his 600th career victory - and the 107th at Aston Villa - one more would leave a lasting legacy in the claret-and-blue half of Birmingham.

Three decades may have gone by since Villa's last significant success - not counting the 2019 Championship playoff final - but Freiburg are aiming to win their very first title, some 122 years after they were founded.

Building on the stellar work of former boss Christian Streich, who led them from 2011 through to 2024, the Black Forest club's third Europa League campaign in four years has already proved their best by far.

It has been a truly remarkable run, given their modest means, as Julian Schuster's side went unbeaten across the first seven league-phase games before racking up goal after goal in the knockout rounds.

Following a 5-2 aggregate defeat of Genk, they swept past Celta Vigo in the quarter-finals, winning 6-1 overall to set up a semi-final tie against Braga.

Despite losing the first leg 2-1 in Portugal, an early red card saw Braga reduced to 10 men back in southern Germany, before goals from Lukas Kubler and Johan Manzambi put Freiburg in front.

Though their visitors then set up a tense finale by pulling one back, the hosts still held on to reach the final, breaking more new ground for the Breisgau-based club.

Impressive firepower has certainly played its part. Scoring at least three times in four out of six knockout games has taken their tally to 25 goals so far, and only fellow finalists Aston Villa have notched more (28).

Schuster's men were at it again last weekend, thumping RB Leipzig 4-1 to secure seventh place in the Bundesliga and wrap up Conference League qualification for next season.

Of course, they can upgrade to an unprecedented berth in the Champions League by beating Villa, but finally lifting some silverware would mean much more than that.

Freiburg Europa League form:

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Freiburg form (all competitions):

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Aston Villa Europa League form:

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Aston Villa form (all competitions):

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Team News

As doubts remain about the fitness of Amadou Onana, who has not featured since limping out of the semi-final first leg in Nottingham, Emery could continue with Victor Lindelof as an auxiliary midfielder for Wednesday's final.

However, the latter was substituted with a foot problem on Friday, so either Douglas Luiz or Lamare Bogarde may be asked to deputise; Ross Barkley is ineligible and Boubacar Kamara has been sidelined for the rest of the season.

In the final third, several men are running into peak form: continuing his purple patch, Ollie Watkins found the net twice against Liverpool and is Villa's top scorer in this continental campaign with five goals so far.

Meanwhile, Emi Buendia has produced eight goal involvements from 11 Europa League starts; Morgan Rogers ranks top for both chances created (27) and touches inside the opposition box (65) in this term's competition.

Though Freiburg will be missing Yuito Suzuki due to a fractured collarbone, and Patrick Osterhage is a doubt, Schuster should have all of his main men available.

Rising star Manzambi leads the Europa League rankings for possession won (72), duels won (97) and fouls won (37); veteran defender Matthias Ginter has not missed a single minute and has already scored twice in the knockout stages.

All-time top scorer Vincenzo Grifo has recorded at least one goal involvement in each of his last five European appearances, while Croatian striker Igor Matanovic netted his 11th Bundesliga goal of the season last weekend.

Set to join captain Maximilian Eggestein in midfield, Nicolas Hofler is preparing for an emotional send-off, just days after playing his 293rd and final league game for the club.

Freiburg possible starting lineup:

Atubolu; Kubler, Ginter, Lienhart, Treu; Eggestein, Hofler; Beste, Manzambi, Grifo; Matanovic

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Lindelof, Tielemans; McGinn, Rogers, Buendia; Watkins

We say: Freiburg 1-2 Aston Villa

Both teams have shone on home turf - boasting perfect records as hosts in this season's Europa League - but a battle on neutral soil should see the stronger side prevail.

The top-scoring clubs in this competition will exchange a few more goals in Istanbul, where Aston Villa's greater nous and distinct physical edge can secure their first European trophy since 1982.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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