Unai Emery delivered on his promise.

Three and a half years ago, he walked into Villa Park and vowed he had joined Aston Villa to win trophies. On Wednesday in Istanbul, he achieved it.

Skipper John McGinn lifted the Europa League trophy after a 3-0 victory over Freiburg, etching Villa's name into the history books once again. In front of nine of the 1982 European Cup heroes, including captain Dennis Mortimer and goalscorer Peter Withe, Villa wrote themselves another momentous chapter.

Goals from Tielemans and Buendia Secure Victory

Spectacular strikes from Youri Tielemans and Emi Buendia sent Villa on their way, with Morgan Rogers sealing victory. This time, they played in white and beat a German team in red. Instead of Bayern Munich, it was Freiburg. Instead of Rotterdam, it was Istanbul.

Rather than Withe, it was Tielemans, Buendia, and Rogers as Emery clinched his fifth Europa League title. Emery's previous four were already a competition record, and while he dismissed the suggestion he was a European king, he is a serial winner. It is now six finals and five wins, with the latest cementing a legacy at Villa Park that will last decades.

Emery and Players Express Gratitude

Villa officials were nervous talking about the trophy parade in advance, which needed to be organized ahead of time given the disruption in Birmingham. However, the squad will flaunt it in the city Thursday afternoon.

Emery said, "I am thankful to [co-owners] Nassef [Sawiris] and Wes [Edens]... they are supporting always. I am thankful to the supporters and I am thankful for the players. All the times I am successful in this competition, I needed good players. Now I am so thankful for the players, they are following our ambitions. They are protagonists on the field. This is the reason I am not feeling the king in this competition. I am feeling really thankful—we are the kings together."

If Tielemans' volley—rounding off a short corner routine—gave Villa the platform, then Buendia's curler into the top corner put one hand on the trophy. Former Villa midfielder Ian Taylor, who scored in the 1996 League Cup win, leaped out of his press box chair and punched the air. Rogers' third had the substitutes celebrating on the pitch and an airborne Emery jumping on the touchline with clenched fists. Victory was assured.

"I feel amazing," Tielemans told TNT. "My voice is a bit gone but it's all good. We put in a shift, a top performance, we had a great season. To top it off with this is amazing. It's been a season with a lot of ups and downs. We started so so bad. Our standards were very poor. The way we turned things around was a credit to the players and staff. We kept working, believing. We got the win in the end, Champions League next season and a trophy."

Yet it was not without early nerves. Emi Martinez needed his right ring finger taped and treated in the warm-up—evoking memories of Nigel Spink replacing Jimmy Rimmer after just nine minutes in the '82 final. But those concerns evaporated. Villa were never in danger, and the fans who packed Besiktas Park had already started celebrating by half-time.

Villa's official ticket allocation was 10,758, but 20,000 traveled to Turkey. They clearly outnumbered Freiburg's following and crammed into the bars and cafes off Istanbul's famous Taksim Square. Among them in the stadium was Prince William, who had already sent a message of good luck on social media and watched on as Emery and Villa secured their place in history.