Aston Villa’s revival under Unai Emery culminated in ending a 30-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League. The team lifted the trophy in Istanbul after a dominant 3-0 victory over Freiburg. Villa had already qualified for next season’s Champions League through their Premier League position, compensating for missing out on Europe’s elite competition on the final day of the previous term. Pre-season expectations were compared with outcomes, with predictions that Villa had top-four quality and would finish around sixth. A fan forecast Champions League football plus a trophy, which proved accurate. The piece also begins reviewing other predictions, including Bournemouth’s signing of Junior Kroupi.
"After returning to Europe and reaching multiple semi-finals at home and abroad, the only thing missing from Aston Villa's revival under Unai Emery was some silverware - and they finally broke their 30-year trophy drought by lifting the Europa League following a dominant 3-0 victory over Freiburg. The Villans had already achieved qualification for next season's Champions League via the Premier League, which made up for missing out on Europe's elite club competition on the final day of last term."
"FourFourTwo weren't far off with our verdict, saying Emery's side had top-four quality while predicting a sixth-place finish, but Villa fan Phil Gennoy was even more on the money. Asked where the club would finish, he said: "Back in the Champions League, with a trophy in the cabinet." Bang on."
"Pre-season predictions are always fraught with danger - and the 2025/26 campaign demonstrated that as clearly as ever. While certain clubs performed broadly in line with expectations - it was no surprise that Manchester City challenged for the Premier League title, for example, nor that Burnley struggled - others didn't read the script. So, with the domestic campaign over and the 2026 World Cup still a couple of weeks away, we looked back at FourFourTwo's Season Preview to see what we got right and where we were wide of the mark."
"Bournemouth's 10m swoop for Junior Kroupi in the 2025 January transfer window made very few headlines beyond the south coast, particularly because the then 18-year-old remained with French Ligue 2 club Lorient for the rest of that season. The best feature"
Read at www.fourfourtwo.com
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