Joining Europe’s elite 

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Unai Emery will join an exclusive club of successful European coaches on Wednesday night if he guides Aston Villa to UEFA Europa League glory against Freiburg on May 20, 2026. The Premier League outfit are gunning for their first continental silverware since 1982 in Istanbul, but they must first overcome their Bundesliga opponents, who upset the odds to reach their first-ever European final. That will be far from a straightforward task, but with Emery at the helm, they have an expert with a proven track record in clinching the crown.

The Spaniard already holds the record for the most titles in the competition’s history with a remarkable collection of winners’ medals. Emery triumphed for three seasons in a row with Sevilla (2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16) and collected another crown in 2020/21 with Villarreal. He also finished as runner-up with Arsenal in 2018/19, denying him a fifth Europa League trophy to add to his silverware cabinet. But winning with Villa, with whom he has been in charge since 2023, would propel him into European managerial folklore.

As the graphic below shows, Carlo Ancelotti and José Mourinho are the only other coaches in European football history to win five European titles across the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League competitions. This does not count the UEFA Super Cup, Intertoto Cup, Cup Winners’ Cup or any other non-seasonal European competition. If Emery guides his team to victory, he will join them despite never winning the Champions League in his career.

Ancelotti has won the Champions League five times, with three trophies at Real Madrid and two with AC Milan. Mourinho, meanwhile, won the Champions League twice with FC Porto and Inter Milan respectively, as well as the UEFA Cup with Porto in 2002/03 and the Europa League with Manchester United in 2016/17. The Portuguese tactician added his fifth crown with his Conference League success at AS Roma in 2023/24 to become the only manager in history to win all three titles.

Emery is currently level on four with the legendary Bob Paisley, who won three European Cups and a UEFA Cup with Liverpool between 1975 and 1981, and Italian disciplinarian Giovanni Trapattoni, who won three European trophies with Juventus and the UEFA Cup once with Inter Milan.

Perennial Champions League stalwarts Pep Guardiola and Zinédine Zidane have celebrated collecting Europe’s highest honour at club level on three occasions, with Rafa Benitez enjoying his 2004/05 Champions League success with Liverpool in addition to UEFA Cup and Europa League triumphs with Valencia and Chelsea respectively. If Luis Enrique wins the Champions League with PSG on May 31 against Arsenal, he will join them Guardiola, Zidane and Benitez on three titles apiece.