The 54-year-old Spaniard has won three times with Sevilla (2014, 2015, 2016) and once ​with Villarreal (2021) – either side of a defeat with Arsenal (2019) – ​deservedly earning him the epithet “Mr Europa League” from some ⁠fans and media.

Now he goes to the 2026 final seeking ​a fifth title, this time with Aston Villa against Bundesliga side ​Freiburg.

“His track record speaks for itself,” said Villa striker Ollie Watkins, heaping praise on his boss as the man to guarantee Europa League success. “We ​need to go and win it now.”

Emery was delighted with ​how his team overturned a 1-0 deficit to Forest in the first ‌leg ⁠of the Europa League semi-final to score four times at home and win 4-1 on aggregate.

“Now we have to look to the final,” he said, hoping that Villa will do “something fantastic” ​for their fans.

Though ​thrilled at Thursday’s ⁠win, Emery left the pitch quickly after the final whistle, pumping his fist a few ​times at the crowd before letting his players ​enjoy the ⁠moment with fans

He and his Villa side will be favourites at the Europa League final in Istanbul on May 20, but ⁠Emery was ​taking nothing for granted. “Of course German ​teams are so difficult, their coaches, their players are so good,” he added ​of the upcoming opponents.

-Reuters

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Directly to the round of 16:

1. Olympique Lyonnais (France)

2. Aston Villa (England)

3. Midtjylland (Denmark)

4. Real Betis (Spain)

5. Porto (Portugal)

6. Braga (Portugal)

7. Freiburg (Germany)

8. AS Roma (Italy)

Knockout phase play-off places (seeded)

9. Genk (Belgium)

10. Bologna (Italy)

11. VfB Stuttgart (Germany)

12. Ferencvaros (Hungary)

13. Nottingham Forest (England)

14. Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)

15. Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)

16. Celta Vigo (Spain)

Knockout phase play-off places (unseeded)

17. PAOK (Greece)

18. Lille (France)

19. Fenerbahce (Turkey)

20. Panathinaikos (Greece)

21. Celtic (Scotland)

22. Ludogorets (Bulgaria)

23. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)

24. SK Brann (Norway)

-Reuters

 UEFA Europa League – Aston Villa v RB Salzburg – Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain – January 29, 2026 Aston

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The ban followed safety concerns raised by British Police, who cited potential protests outside Villa Park, following demonstrations at Israel’s recent World Cup qualifiers in Oslo and Udine.

“From hard lessons learned we have taken the decision to decline any allocation offered on behalf of away fans and our decision should be understood in that context,” Maccabi said in a statement.

“We hope that circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future.”

Aston Villa announced the decision last week, saying they were following instructions from the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), who are responsible for issuing safety certificates for games at Villa Park.

West Midlands Police described the match as high risk, past incidents, including violent confrontations and hate crime offences involving Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters ahead of a November 2024 game in Amsterdam.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described the announcement as “shameful”.

Villa are third in the Europa League standings while Maccabi Tel Aviv are 30th after two rounds.

-Reuters

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UEFA demoted Palace while allowing Olympique Lyonnais to play in the Europa League as, at the time of assessment on March 1, the Eagle Football Group were majority owners of Lyon while their chairman, John Textor, owned a controlling stake in Palace.

Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League last season, will replace Palace in the Europa League.

“After considering the evidence, the panel found that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, had shares in CPFC and OL and was a board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of UEFA’s assessment date,” the CAS said in a statement.

“The panel also dismissed the argument by CPFC that they received unfair treatment in comparison to Nottingham Forest and OL.”

Palace did not respond to a request for comment. Club chairman Steve Parish told reporters on Sunday that if Palace lost the appeal, they would “have to look if there’s any steps after that.”

The club, who qualified for the Europa League as FA Cup winners, appealed against UEFA’s decision last month.

The appeal came days before New York Jets co-owner Robert Wood “Woody” Johnson completed the purchase of Eagle Football Holdings’ stake in Palace.

Textor has also resigned from Lyon’s board of directors with Michele Kang appointed chairwoman and president.

As both Lyon and Palace had qualified for the Europa League, the French club were allowed to keep their place because they had finished higher in their respective league. Lyon finished sixth in Ligue 1 while Palace were 12th in the Premier League.

“Olympique Lyonnais welcomes today’s decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport confirming its participation in the Europa League,” Lyon said in a statement.

Palace, who won the Community Shield on Sunday , beating Liverpool in a penalty shootout, are set to play in the Conference League’s qualifying playoff round later this month.

-Reuters

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The multi-club ownership regulations do not allow clubs under the same ownership compete in the same European competition, and American businessman John Textor holds a stake in both Palace and Lyon.

Palace qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup last season while Lyon reached the competition by finishing sixth in Ligue 1 but have since been relegated to Ligue 2 by French football’s financial watchdog (DNCG).

Lyon are appealing the decision, which came following an audit of the club’s finances, and UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body will now await the outcome of the appeal before making its decision.

UEFA and Lyon reached a settlement agreement over the club’s breach of the financial sustainability requirements, and as part of the settlement, Lyon agreed to their exclusion from European competition should the DNCG confirm their relegation.

League of Ireland club Drogheda United lost an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier this month over their exclusion from the Conference League, after falling foul of the multi-club ownership rules.

-Reuters

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While Postecoglou’s fate has split opinion amongst the fans, the 59-year-old ultimately paid the price for an horrendous Premier League season which saw Tottenham finish 17th.

“The Board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the Club for a change to take place,” Tottenham said in a statement.

“Following a positive start in the 2023/24 Premier League (PL) season, we recorded 78 points from the last 66 PL games. This culminated in our worst-ever PL finish last season.”

Postecoglou leaves two years to the day after his appointment and 16 days after his side beat Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao for the club’s first silverware since 2008, a win that also put them in next season’s Champions League.

The former Celtic manager has had to face questions over his future for several months, yet delivered on his claim early last season that he always wins a trophy in his second season in a job

He also took Tottenham to the League Cup semi-final but their league campaign was their worst since 1976-77, the last time the club suffered relegation from the top flight.

Several of the club’s first team have voiced their support for Postecoglou since beating United, but chairman Daniel Levy is now searching for his fifth full-time manager in six years since Mauricio Pochettino was sacked in 2019.

“At times there were extenuating circumstances — injuries and then a decision to prioritise our European campaign,” the club said. “Whilst winning the Europa League this season ranks as one of the Club’s greatest moments, we cannot base our decision on emotions aligned to this triumph.”

Several managers have been linked to the Tottenham job, including Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner.

GOOD START

Postecoglou will walk away with his pride intact and a handsome bonus, but his recent comment to fans at the Europa League victory parade that the third season of a TV series is always better than the second now looks hollow.

It all started so well for Postecoglou. He began the 2023-24 campaign by guiding Tottenham to their best start to a top-flight season since the 1961 title-winning team.

That form soon dipped though and despite finishing fifth in his first campaign the momentum had long since gone.

This season Tottenham earned only 38 points and lost 22 top-flight matches. They managed five points from their last 12 league games and the only win they earned during that run was against a Southampton side who narrowly avoided becoming statistically the worst team ever in the Premier League.

Postecoglou has pointed to a long injury list which denied him the likes of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Dejan Kulusevski, Destiny Udogie, Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Son Heung-min for significant periods.

But while it has clearly been one of long-serving chairman Levy’s toughest calls, he has concluded that Postecoglou is not the man to lead the club forward.

“We have made what we believe is the right decision to give us the best chance of success going forward, not the easy decision,” the club statement said.

“We have a talented, young squad and Ange has given us a great platform to build upon. We should like to express our gratitude to him. We wish him well for the future — he will always be welcome back at our home.”

Many fans reacted to the news of Postecoglou’s sacking with surprise, but England manager Thomas Tuchel said that sometimes even winning a trophy is not enough.

“I feel for every manager and I have huge sympathy for every manager in these moments because I was in the same spot,” the German, who was sacked by Chelsea despite taking them to the Champions League title, said on Friday.

“If the trust is not there anymore then sometimes it’s not enough to win a trophy.”

-Reuters

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Spurs captain Son Heung-min and two other players, the last to line up for individual medals, were left empty-handed after their team beat Manchester United 1-0 to win the club’s fourth European title on Wednesday.

Son lifted the trophy without a medal around his neck.

“To our great displeasure, we did not have enough medals available on stage during the trophy ceremony presentation due to an unexpected discrepancy in the player count …” British media quoted European soccer’s governing body as saying on Thursday.

“More team members – including injured players – participated in the ceremony than initially anticipated.

“The missing medals were promptly delivered to the winning team in the dressing room, along with our sincerest apologies for the oversight.”

-Reuters

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Amorim and his men had hoped to salvage something from a woeful season that has them languishing 16th in the Premier League with one game remaining.

Instead, Brennan Johnson bundled in a first-half goal in a 1-0 win that clinched Spurs a spot in the Champions League next season — leaving United out of European football entirely.

“In this moment, I am not going to be here defending myself, it is not my style,” Amorim told reporters. “I cannot do it, it is really hard for me.

“So I have nothing to show to the fans and say ‘I’m going to improve because of this, I have these problems,’ I will not do nothing.

“In this moment, it is a little bit of faith. Let’s see. I’m always open, if the board and the fans feel that I am not the right guy, I will go the next day without any conversation about compensation.”

Missing out on the Champions League is costly with co-owner Jim Ratcliffe estimating the financial benefit of qualification between 80 and 100 million pounds ($107 – $134 million) in broadcast, matchday and commercial income.

“It is tough for a club like us not to be in the Champions League but now we have to deal with that with a different plan, even with the market,” Amorim said. “But that means we have more time, more time to think and work during the week and to be better in the Premier League. This will be our focus.

“I know it’s going to be tough, I know we lost to an English team, I know the pressure of the fans is going to be really short in the next season. But I guarantee you I will not quit, I will not go away, so I am really confident.”

United played like a team more afraid to lose than one focused on winning on Wednesday, particularly in the first half, which proved costly as terrible defending led to Spurs’ goal.

United fared better in the second half and threatened to equalise in the dying minutes with Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho and Luke Shaw all forcing terrific saves.

“I was always really honest with you guys. We did not perform perfectly today but we were better than the opponent,” Amorim said. “In the second half we tried everything with the centre defenders wide, crosses, going inside the box. I think today was not the day.”

There have been questions about whether United have gone backwards since the Portuguese succeeded Erik ten Hag after the former manager’s sacking in late-October.

“I don’t agree (that we are going backwards),” Amorim said. “We’ve had some bad results but I think we have improved in certain areas. We were competitive in more games that we didn’t score in.

“I understand I’m a young guy. But I also understand that if we have the chances that we had in the second half, if we managed to score one, the game should have been different, this press conference should be so different.”

-Reuters

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In a season where both clubs plummeted down the Premier League, Tottenham emerged from a dismal campaign with something to celebrate as well as a lucrative berth in next season’s Champions League.

It was Spurs’ first silverware since the 2008 League Cup and their first European trophy since their 1984 UEFA Cup success.

Johnson scored in the 42nd minute when United’s defence crumbled as Pape Sarr swung in a cross while goalkeeper Andre Onana remained rooted to his line. Johnson and United defender Luke Shaw rushed in and the ball appeared to glance off both of them and in, past Onana’s desperate swipe.

The goal was as scrappy as the game in a matchup of teams who have had wildly disappointing Premier League seasons, with United languishing in 16th and Spurs 17th.

Europa League – Final – Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United – San Mames, Bilbao, Spain – May 21, 2025 Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho looks dejected after the match REUTERS/Vincent West 

United’s Rasmus Hojlund had a terrific chance to equalise with a header midway through the second half, but Spurs’ Micky van de Ven leapt for a stunning clearance off the line.

United almost equalised at the death but Shaw’s header was saved by a diving Guglielmo Vicario, who had earlier denied an Alejandro Garnacho bullet strike from the edge of the box with a great reflex save.

“Ever since I came here, it’s been ‘Tottenham are a good team but can never get it done’. We got it done,” goalscorer Johnson told TNT Sports.

“Honestly, this is what it means. It means so much. All the fans get battered, we get battered, for not winning a trophy, for not winning anything. But we had to get the first one in a while today. I’m so happy.”

POSTECOGLOU VINDICATION

Tottenham’s win also offered vindication to embattled manager Ange Postecoglou, who had said throughout the campaign that he always wins trophies in his second season at a club.

The victory also rewards Tottenham with Champions League qualification for next season, a remarkable achievement for a side languishing just above the Premier League relegation zone after an alarming 21 defeats.

Their triumph may well serve as the crucial lifeline that their 59-year-old Greek-Australian manager Postecoglou needed to cement his future at the club.

“I’m still kind of taking it all in,” the manager said.

“I know what it means for this football club… I could sense some nervousness in everybody at the club, because they’ve been in the situation before. And until you take that monkey off your back, you never understand what it feels like.”

For Manchester United, the defeat compounds a season of deep frustration.

Mired near the bottom of the Premier League, the Red Devils now face the prospect of a campaign without European competition, leaving Ruben Amorim, United’s beleaguered coach, to rebuild at Old Trafford without the draw of European nights.

The final presented a fascinating spectacle: two Premier League underachievers transformed into European contenders and it was Tottenham who proved that European football can provide unexpected redemption.

Amorim’s side will be thoroughly sick of the sight of Spurs, who extended their unbeaten run against United to seven matches, completing an unprecedented seasonal sweep with four wins in four encounters, a first in their history against the Manchester club.

As jubilant Spurs captain Son Heung-min lifted his first trophy with the club and celebrated with his teammates beneath cascading confetti in the balmy evening air of Bilbao, Tottenham’s long-suffering faithful rejoiced.

After 41 years without European silverware and countless near-misses, they finally had a night to remember.

-Reuters

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The world body was founded on 21 May 1904 in Paris by six organisations – Football associations of Belgium, Denmark, France and the Netherlands as well as an athletics organisation, the Union des Societes Francaisses de Sports Athletiques and the Real Madrid Football Club.

Tottenham and Manchester United will meet at San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao, as the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League champion is crowned.

This is the second all-English final of the Europa League era.

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