BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Radio 5 Live are on hand to bring you full coverage of tonight's Europa League final in Istanbul.

Tune in from 19:00 BST to join Mark Chapman for full build up, with senior football reporter Ian Dennis and former Aston Villa midfielder Marc Albrighton behind the mic from kick off at Besiktas Park.

Ian Dennis
BBC Radio 5 Live senior football reporter at Besiktas Park

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The atmosphere is building rather nicely here. The Aston Villa players have just arrived and made their way out onto the pitch at Besiktas Park.

It's been a wet day in Istanbul but now we have a mild, dry evening as they look to claim silverware in Europe for the first time in 44 years.

Just like in '82 they will be playing German opposition, and just like in Rotterdam they will be wearing white.

Emery is seeking a record fifth Europa League title, his Villa side are overwhelming favourites against Freiburg.

Freiburg

Well Jon, founded in 1904, SC Freiburg, from Germany's fourth-largest city of the same name, have been in the Bundesliga since 2016.

The club have won four Bundesliga 2 titles and lost the German Cup in 2021-22, and are still waiting for their first major trophy.

A few of their former players include former Germany manager Joachim Low and ex-Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse.

This season is only their seventh ever in Europe. Before this year their best runs in Europe were Europa League last-16 losses to West Ham in 2023-24 and Juventus in 2022-23.

Marc Albrighton
Former Aston Villa midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live at Besiktas Park

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There's going to be times where you have highs and lows, that is the nature of football. Villa have experienced some of those lows but now they are on a massive high. What they have built over the last five or six years has been superb and they have done it carefully.

Unai Emery was a step up in terms of what they had before, and he has taken them to the next level. If they can manage to get over the line and get the win tonight, it is a case of building on it, not just stopping there.

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

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Nigel Spink believes it is time Aston Villa's European Cup is "moved along the shelf" to make room for more silverware.

Villa face Freiburg in the Europa League final in Istanbul on Wednesday, aiming to win their first major European trophy since 1982.

Goalkeeper Spink was an early substitute in the final, replacing the injured Jimmy Rimmer, when Villa beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in Rotterdam to win the European Cup.

Villa have not won a major trophy for 30 years - the 1996 League Cup being their most recent success - and Spink wants the wait to be over.

"I felt like it was time for the European Cup to be moved along the shelf a little bit to make room for another European trophy and I'm so pleased we've got an opportunity to do that," he told BBC Sport.

"I know we're one step away still but if we do beat Freiburg then there'll be nobody more pleased than me to see that another crop of players having achieved European glory for the mighty club."

Spink's European Cup appearance was just his second-ever game for Villa and he went onto play 460 times for the club, also winning the 1994 League Cup.

He remained with Villa as they were relegated to the Second Division in 1987, just five years after being crowned kings of Europe.

"We got to a point, as a club, where we competed at the same level as the likes of Liverpool but it didn't step on. It wasn't embraced I feel, for whatever reason.

"The squad that played in 1981-82 should have been a larger part of the workforce, either playing or coaching at Villa.

"It [the European victory] should have been embraced more at boardroom level.

"We know it goes in cycles, that's the way it is, but you've got to make the effort to keep it there and we just totally declined as a club. We went through hell really for five years after coming out of the European Cup the following year against Juventus.

"Then we beat Barcelona in the Super Cup [in 1983] but after that period there was a definite decline of standards on the pitch on a Saturday afternoon. As a player having done what you did, you don't have control over what the ownership do."

Marc Albrighton
Former Aston Villa midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live at Besiktas Park

The place is buzzing. Being at the stadium has taken it up a notch. The Freiburg fans have got in early, their section is almost full. The Villa fans are still flooding in, in their numbers, so the atmosphere is definitely building.

Image source, Getty Images

Also, speaking of kits, Aston Villa will be wearing white tonight. Just as they did when they beat Bayern Munich in 1982.

Image source, Getty Images

Thanks for sharing, Faye.

Yippee aye eh, yippee aye oh, Holte Enders in the sky...

David Michael, Fan writer

The Europa League final against Freiburg will hopefully provide the missing link.

Thirty years have passed since Villa last lifted a trophy. The attempts at silverware since have been disappointing, summed up by the fact that Villa have only scored one goal from open play in four domestic finals since - a consolation by the largely forgotten Mbwana Samatta in the 2020 League Cup final against Manchester City.

For players like John McGinn, Ollie Watkins and Tyrone Mings, who have carried Villa through its best years in a generation, the final in Istanbul is a chance to crown their Villa careers.

Read the full column on the BBC Sport Aston Villa page

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Of course, that European Cup isn't Villa's only European trophy.

Remember the Intertoto Cup? The competition which was disbanded in 2008?

Well, Aston Villa are two-time winners (in 2001 and co-winners in 2008). More glory to inspire the lads tonight...

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Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter at Besiktas Park

There are nine of Villa's 1982 European Cup winners here this evening.

Peter Withe's goal in Rotterdam beat Bayern Munich 1-0 44 years ago and Unai Emery's side are looking to step out of their shadow.

Withe, captain Dennis Mortimer, Andy Blair, Nigel Spink, Pat Heard, Tony Morley, Allan Evans, Kenny Swain and Des Bremner have travelled to Istanbul.

Brian Moore's commentary of Withe's winner hangs at the top of the Doug Ellis Stand at Villa Park.

A new banner for a new hero may be needed after tonight.

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Time for a history lesson kids.

Aston Villa have won a major European trophy before, beating Bayern Munich in the 1982 European Cup final 1-0.

That final is mostly remembered for an incredible performance from unknown 23-year-old stand-in goalie Nigel Spink.

Peter Withe scored the game's only goal to ensure an English team won the European Cup for a sixth successive season.

And to mark the commentary of the winning goal there's a banner at Villa Park that reads: "Shaw, Williams, prepared to venture down the left. There’s a good ball played in for Tony Morley. Oh, it must be! And it is! Peter Withe!”.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

In the meantime, why not take on our quiz?

Some Unai Emery-led sides make up some of the answers. There you go, a clue. You're welcome.