It is a huge night for Aston Villa as they go in search of a first European trophy in 44 years.
Unai Emery’s men take on German side Freiburg in the final of the Europa League in Istanbul and will be backed by around 11,000 fans in Turkey with thousands more packed into pubs and bars in Birmingham.
Villa start as favourites and can lean on the experience of Emery, who has won this competition four times previously with Sevilla and Villarreal.
Villa have already qualified for the Champions League via the Premier League but a place among Europe’s elite is the prize on offer to Julian Schuster and his Freiburg players.
The club from the edge of the Black Forest was not expected to get this far but came from behind to overcome Braga 4-3 on aggregate in the semi-finals. That followed on from hugely impressive wins over Celta Vigo and Genk.
Where to watch Freiburg v Aston Villa: TV and online streams
Freiburg versus Aston Villa kicks off on Wednesday night at 8pm UK time. You can watch it on TNT Sports and stream via the HBO Max app.
If you don’t live in the UK, click HERE to find out where to watch the game in your region.
Stats for Freiburg v Aston Villa
- This is the first meeting between the two teams
- Aston Villa have won four of six previous clashes with German teams in European competition
- This is Freiburg’s seventh European campaign, including qualifying, all in the UEFA Cup/Europa League
- Freiburg are the third different German team to reach the Europa League final in the last five seasons after Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen
- Only two of Freiburg’s last 36 European matches has finished goalless
- Aston Villa are the top scorers in the Europa League this season with 28 goals – three more than second-placed Freiburg
- Unai Emery is aiming to be the first coach to win the competition with three different clubs
