Overview
- Aston Villa face SC Freiburg in the Europa League final on Wednesday, May 20 at 8pm BST at Istanbul’s Tüpraş (Beşiktaş) Stadium, with France’s François Letexier appointed as referee by UEFA.
- Villa will wear their 2025/26 white third kit because Freiburg’s red home strip clashes, with betting partner Betano replaced by the Aston Villa Foundation under Turkish licensing rules and limited-edition shirts going on sale.
- Team news remains in flux, with Villa not expecting midfielder Amadou Onana to recover in time and Freiburg sweating on defender Matthias Ginter’s fitness.
- The winners earn automatic entry to next season’s UEFA Champions League, raising the stakes beyond the trophy itself.
- If Villa lift the trophy and finish fifth in the Premier League, the Champions League place linked to fifth would pass to sixth, which could pull Bournemouth, Brighton or Brentford into Europe.