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71 min: Villa look in the mood to set some records. The biggest win in a one-off final is Sevilla’s 4-0 evisceration of Middlesbrough in 2006.
69 min: Watkins advances down the inside-right channel and shoots instead of feeding either Rogers or Buendia to his left. That would have led to a certain goal. But it’s just a corner, sent in from the right. Onana, from a very tight angle beyond the far stick, batters a header onto the upright.
68 min: Onana’s first contribution is to hold off Kübler and draw a free kick. The set piece is worked down the right, where McGinn crosses, looking for Watkins. Atubolu, who has done nothing wrong tonight yet has conceded three times in the biggest match of his life, claims with safe hands. Sport is cruel sometimes.
66 min: Lindelof gets himself out of a tight spot with an elegant drag-back and spin. It’s a fine way for him to exit the stage, his last act before he’s replaced by Onana.
65 min: Treu’s loose backpass nearly allows Watkins in. Atubolu races out of his box to bash clear and save the day. “Cats need relaxing activity toys as well as food,” notes Scott Blair, before offering: “Scratching Pole Calmer.”
63 min: Manzambi throws long from the left. Watkins batters the ball clear. Martínez’s sore finger hasn’t been tested at all.
62 min: Freiburg replace Leinhart and Höfler with Höler and Rosenfelder.
60 min: Freiburg look stunned. They were arguably the better team for the majority of the first half, even if they didn’t really create much. But then Villa exploded into life, and they’ve been swept aside mercilessly. What a performance this is from Villa!
GOAL! Freiburg 0-3 Aston Villa (Rogers 58)
McGinn sends Buendia into space down the left. Buendia sees off Kübler with a jink and a drop of the shoulder, before sending a low cross to the near post. Rogers gets in ahead of Leinhart and pokes into the bottom left. A brilliant poacher’s goal! And a lovely assist.
57 min: Freiburg stroke it around the back, but Villa hold their shape and there’s no way through. Manzambi eventually sends a pass down the right that’s easy for Torres to shepherd out for a goal kick.
55 min: A throw comes into the Villa box from the right. There’s a bit of a scramble, and Torres hoicks clear before one of the three red shirts nearby can take a shy at goal from close range.
54 min: A free kick for Villa in a central position, 35 yards out. Tielemans shovels it down the middle, and Watkins, the ball dropping over his shoulder, extends a leg in an attempt to divert the ball into the bottom left. He connects, but only just, and the ball dribbles wide left.
52 min: Manzambi dribbles across the face of the box, left to right, but opts against shooting. The ball ends up with Ginter on the right. He swings a low cross into the middle, but with nobody in red making a run, that’s easy for Martinez.
50 min: Buendia breaks into a little space down the inside-right channel and enters the box. He spots Atubolu off his line, so tries to dig out a chip towards the top left. It’s on target, but not with enough oomph to beat the keeper, who plucks from the air. Shame, because that would have been peach number three.
48 min: Kübler tries to latch onto a long pass down the right. Martinez comes right to the edge of his box to intercept, then slides out of his area, but lets go of the ball in time. And then the flag goes up anyway. But Villa hearts were in mouths for microseconds there.
47 min: Villa are on the front foot immediately. A couple of positive drives. Unai Emery has clearly told his men that this isn’t over yet, but could be soon if they get another in short order. “Surely Charles Antaki means ‘the only Polish player (Cash has 25 caps for Poland) whose spoonerism would work as a marketing name for feline cat food’,” begins Edward Ricketts. “Although I must confess I haven’t checked if Mateusz Caszinski works in this respect.”
Freiburg get the second half started. No changes. “Until Tielemans’ goal, I thought Freiburg was doing a good job of keeping Villa to half-chances,” writes Kári Tulinius. “However, the German side didn’t create much at the other end. They’ll have to change their approach and push for goals, and that’s dangerous against an Emery team. This could get ugly, unless Freiburg have a bit of luck.”
Half-time postbag. “Our Belgian commentators saw what was happening for that first goal way before the camera operator did. And whilst I was thinking what a waste of a corner. Just goes to show how much some of us underestimate Emery and Villa” – Paulo Biriani
“Bit of a tough pill to swallow, conceding two goals just before the break, but Schuster and the Freiburg players should be pleased with the performance if not the scoreline. Worth keeping in mind that they have players such as Grifo and Manzambi who are capable of producing moments of magic just like Tielemans and Buendia. Still another 45 and a lot can happen!” – Daniel Halladay
“Mention of last year’s Villa-Bayern CL group match reminds me that I haven’t heard about Jhon Duran in a while. His sale and Douglas Luiz the year before look like Villa getting peak value” – G Salorio
“Arsenal fans can look on this game with benign sporting interest, happy to let the better team win and so on, an even willing to ignore the presence of Emi Martinez. But the neutral’s mind does wander. I note, for example, that in Matty Cash, Villa have probably the only English player whose spoonerism would work as a marketing name for feline cat food” – Charles Antaki
HALF TIME: Freiburg 0-2 Aston Villa
You’ll do well to see two better goals in a European final than those. Villa, halfway to glory, positively float down the tunnel!
GOAL! Freiburg 0-2 Aston Villa (Buendia 45+3)
McGinn crosses from the right. Konsa can’t get a header on target. Freiburg only half clear, and Villa recycle the ball. It’s McGinn again, and he rolls a pass in from the right flank. Buendia takes a touch, spinning and stepping infield before stroking an unstoppable shot with the inside of his boot, across Atubola and into the top left! That is sheer magnificence!
45 min +2: … Konsa tries to poke home from the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. The ball’s deflected wide for another corner, which leads to another corner, which leads to …
45 min +1: … Martinez claims and bowls Tielemans away on the counter. He finds McGinn, who takes a shot from a tight angle on the left. It’s deflected. Another corner, from which …
45 min: Manzambi crosses long from the right. Treu wins a corner off Cash at the far stick. And from that …
43 min: That was clearly a corner routine worked out on the training ground. What a lovely cross by Rogers, finding the in-rushing Tielemans in a pocket of space – his team-mates creating that pocket by gently ushering all of the defenders away - and what a finish! Of a higher standard than Peter Withe’s shinner off the post, that’s fair to say. But hey, they all count, and a legend’s a legend’s a legend.
GOAL! Freiburg 0-1 Aston Villa (Tielemans 41)
Digne plays the corner back up the left flank. The ball’s sent into the middle by Rogers. It drops to Tielemans, racing down the inside-right channel. Tielemans meets it, just to the right of the penalty spot, and creams a volley across Atubolu and into the bottom left! What a stunning goal!
41 min: Rogers, Buendia and Digne combine down the left to win a corner for Villa. Digne to take.
39 min: Manzambi dribbles elegantly down the left and reaches the byline, leaving Lindelof in a cloud of dust with a stepover and shimmy. But he absolutely larrups a low cross through the six-yard box, the ball travelling so fast that nobody in red can react in time. Villa, and Lindelof, get away with one.
37 min: … but his delivery is too long and Buendia heads clear. Villa break, Watkins finding McGinn down the inside left with a clever reverse pass. McGinn takes an immediate touch infield, before shooting for the bottom left from the edge of the D. Lienhart blocks bravely, and Watkins isn’t able to do anything with the rebound. Villa carrying a threat for the first time in a wee while.
36 min: Lindelof catches Manzambi as the attacker turns, giving him a sore one on the knee. Manzambi requires a bit of treatment but eventually is hauled back to his feet. Grifo to send the resulting free kick into the mixer from the left …
34 min: Manzambi finds himself in a pocket of space, 25 yards out. His low shot, towards the bottom left, is easy for Martinez. Villa go up the other end, Watkins embarking on a baroque ramble down the inside-right channel, but he attracts one defender too many, and can’t break into the box.
32 min: Freiburg coach Julian Schuster, his side holding their own against the pre-match favourites, stands impassively, arms folded. Unai Emery is frowning quite a lot, by contrast, brain no doubt whirring.
30 min: Cash tries to get something going with a long cross from the right. Rogers can’t win a header at the far stick. “I agree with Richard Hirst from the pre-match postbag,” begins Rob Lewis. “I remember supporting all the other English teams in the 1980s. But as you say, it’s not as simple these days. For instance, as a West Ham fan I feel conflicted about this Villa team. I happen to live in Besiktas and one of my neighbours Jamieson is a massive Villa fan. But after their capitulation to Spurs of a couple of weeks ago, well, you know what I mean. By the way, one of your correspondents referred to the Bosphorus - which is a strait - as a river. Tut tut.”
29 min: The tempo drops and the game slips into European Final Mode. Not much going on.
27 min: Manzambi looks for Matanović down the left but overcooks the pass. Goal kick.
25 min: Villa have seen 61 percent of the ball so far. But it feels like the match is tilting in Freiburg’s direction now. “John McGinn is a cracking player,” writes Stephen McCrossan. “My team Celtic ‘nearly’ signed him before he went to Villa but for some reason he turned down the Celtic board’s offer of some Amazon vouchers and a discount on Celtic merch. Apart from the godlike Kenny Dalglish, McGinn is clearly the greatest exponent of the use of the arse in football.”
