Is any manager as synonymous with a single competition as Unai Emery is with the Europa League? 

Emery has managed in five previous major European finals, all of which have come in this tournament. 

Having already lifted UEFA's secondary club trophy four times, Emery will look to make it five when Aston Villa take on Freiburg in Istanbul on Wednesday.

Freiburg – who finished seventh in the Bundesliga – launched a second-leg fightback to defeat Braga in the semi-finals, while Villa bounced back from a 1-0 first-leg loss to Nottingham Forest with a thumping 4-0 win in the reverse fixture.

But which way will the final go? With the help of Opta insights, we pick out the storylines and players to watch at Besiktas Stadium.

What's expected? 

Opta's predictive model is forecasting a Villa victory, which may not come as a surprise given Emery's continental pedigree. 

Villa come out on top within 90 minutes in 55.9% of the model's 10,000 data-led simulations.

Freiburg, meanwhile, have a 19.5% win probability. There is a 24.6% chance of the match finishing level, which would mean penalties are required.

Overall, the Opta supercomputer assigns Villa a 68% chance of lifting the trophy, compared to Freiburg's 32% probability.

This will be the first-ever meeting between Freiburg and Villa, and it will be the first time a Europa League final will be contested between two teams that have never previously met since 2019-20, when Sevilla beat Inter 3-2.

Freiburg's only previous European meetings with an English club have been against West Ham – all four of those came in the 2023-24 Europa League. 

They lost both group games to the Hammers, won the first leg of their last-16 tie 1-0, but then lost 5-0 in the second leg.

This will be the 11th major European final between an English club and a German team, and the first since the 2012 Champions League final, contested by Chelsea and Bayern Munich.

English teams have won eight of the previous 10, with the only German victories coming via Borussia Dortmund versus Liverpool in the 1965-66 Cup Winners' Cup and Bayern against Leeds United in the 1974-75 European Cup.

First-time finalists look to spring a big surprise 

Freiburg have never won a major trophy in their 121-year history. 

The closest they have previously come to lifting silverware came in 2022, when they lost on penalties to RB Leipzig in the DFB-Pokal final, having led that match for almost an hour.

Three 2. Bundesliga titles are the most prominent titles in their cabinet, and this will be their first-ever European final. 

They are the 16th different German club to reach a UEFA showpiece, but will be the first Bundesliga debutants since Schalke in the 1996-97 UEFA Cup, when they beat Inter on penalties after a 1-1 aggregate draw over two legs.

Freiburg boss Julian Schuster will, at the age of 41 years and 35 days on the day of the final, be the youngest German coach to take charge of a major European final since a 34-year-old Matthias Sammer in the 2002 UEFA Cup. Sammer lost 3-2 to Feyenoord with Dortmund.

Though Freiburg may not possess the same level of big-game experience as their opponents, they will be dangerous opponents after lighting up this season's Europa League.

They have netted 25 Europa League goals this term – since 2009-10, the only German teams to score more in one season are Werder Bremen in 2009-10 (26), Eintracht Frankfurt in 2018-19 (30) and Bayer Leverkusen in 2023-24 (31).

A particular threat for Villa to handle will be Vincenzo Grifo, who leads this season's Europa League for goal involvements (nine – five goals, four assists). 

He has scored or assisted in each of his last five appearances in the competition, and the only previous players to score or assist in both legs of the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in a single campaign are Radamel Falcao for Porto in 2010-11, Carlos Bacca for Sevilla in 2014-15 and Kevin Gameiro for Sevilla in 2015-16 – the latter two were coached by Emery. 

Emery looks to match Ancelotti

Emery led Sevilla to Europa League glory in 2013-13, 2014-15 and 2015-16, then repeated the trick with Villarreal in 2020-21, as well as losing the final with Arsenal in 2018-19.

Should Villa triumph here, he would become only the second manager to win a single major European tournament at least five times, after Carlo Ancelotti won five Champions Leagues with AC Milan and Real Madrid.

This is Emery's sixth European final, which matches the tallies of Ancelotti, Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho, and ranks behind only Giovanni Trapattoni (seven), while a victory would see him go level with Trapattoni, Ancelotti and Mourinho for total European final wins.

Three managers have won the UEFA Cup or Europa League with two different clubs: Emery, Trapattoni (Juventus twice, Inter) and Mourinho (Porto, Manchester United). No coach has ever done so with three teams.

Emery has also managed a competition-leading 115 games in the Europa League overall with five clubs (Arsenal, Villa, Sevilla, Valencia and Villarreal), winning 71 of those matches. His best win rate is with Villa (85.7% – won 12 of 14 games).

The Spaniard also holds the record for the most wins (71) and has overseen the most goals scored (216) in the history of the UEFA Cup or Europa League.

This will only be Villa's second European showpiece, having beaten Bayern Munich 1-0 to win the European Cup in 1982. Only Manchester City have ever had a longer gap between their first two continental finals (1970 – 2021).

Since the start of 2023-24, no side has won more matches in European competitions than Villa (26), and only Arsenal (19) have kept more clean sheets than the Villans' 16.

Villa are already certain to compete in the Champions League next season, having secured a top-five Premier League finish. So if Emery is to add a fifth Europa League winners' medal, he may have to do so on Wednesday.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Freiburg – Johan Manzambi 

Manzambi leads the Europa League this season for possession won (72), duels won (97), fouls won (37) and is second for shots (32). 

Only one player since the 2009-10 rebrand – Amadou Haidara in 2017-18 for Salzburg (125) – has won more duels in a season while under the age of 21.

Aston Villa – Morgan Rogers 

Rogers, meanwhile, ranks top for chances created (27), expected assists (3.3 xA) and touches in the opposition box (65) in the competition. 

Since 2009-10, the only Englishman to create more chances in a Europa League campaign is James Milner in 2015-16 for Liverpool (31).