Europa League Final: Aston Villa's Landmark Night and Evann Guessand's Unique Journey
Aston Villa’s 3-0 dismantling of Freiburg in Istanbul will go down as a landmark night for the club. First major trophy since 1996. Unai Emery’s fifth Europa League crown, drawing him level as the competition’s most decorated coach.
But in the shadows of the celebrations, one player’s quietly extraordinary chase at history moved a step closer.
Villa’s night of release
At Besiktas Park, Villa played like a side determined to end a generation of waiting.
Youri Tielemans set the tone, crashing in a superb opener that settled any early nerves. Emiliano Buendia then followed with a strike of similar quality, his finish doubling the lead before half-time and effectively breaking Freiburg’s resistance.
When Morgan Rogers swept home a third on 57 minutes, the contest was done. Villa controlled the rhythm, managed the space, and never allowed their German opponents a way back. The final whistle confirmed a long-overdue major honour for the club and another European medal for Emery, who now stands alongside the greats of the competition with five titles to his name.
For most, that was the story. For Evann Guessand, it was only half of it.
The absent Villan with a unique target
Guessand was nowhere near the pitch in Istanbul. He wasn’t even in the squad.
The Ivory Coast international, signed permanently from Reims last summer for around £30.5 million, had long since left the Villa dressing room. One of only two senior permanent arrivals in that window, he spent the first half of the campaign in claret and blue, then disappeared from the Premier League’s wider conversation in January when Villa sent him on loan to Crystal Palace.
Out of sight, but not out of the record books.
Before his departure, the 24-year-old featured seven times for Villa in the Europa League group stage, scoring twice. Those appearances were enough to qualify him for a winners’ medal under UEFA rules, assuming the club registered him and chose to recognise his contribution. With Villa now crowned champions, that box is ticked.
His second act this season has been unfolding in south London. At Selhurst Park, Guessand has played a quieter but still meaningful role in Palace’s surge to the Conference League final. He has made five appearances in the competition, helping the club navigate their way to a showdown with Rayo Vallecano next Wednesday.
If Palace lift that trophy, Guessand will stand on the brink of something no player in European football has achieved: winning two different continental competitions in the same season.
Not as a mascot. Not as a trivia note. As a squad member who has actually played in both campaigns.
Injury scare, timely return
The chase nearly ended in March.
Guessand suffered a knee injury during Palace’s Conference League quarter-final against Fiorentina, a setback that threatened to wipe out the business end of his season. For a while, it looked as if his double bid would be reduced to a “what if”.
Instead, he has made it back in time. The forward returned to action as a stoppage-time substitute in Palace’s 2-2 draw with Brentford on Sunday, a brief but significant appearance that confirmed his fitness ahead of the final against Rayo Vallecano.
He may not start. He may not even play more than a few minutes. But he is in the frame, and that is enough to keep the possibility alive.
A future at Palace, a place in history?
Guessand’s story is not just about medals. His career is at a crossroads.
Reports suggest he is set to join Crystal Palace permanently this summer. The club is bracing for change, with manager Oliver Glasner departing and a new era looming at Selhurst Park. Palace need a forward to help carry that transition. Guessand, still only 24, could yet be part of the solution.
For now, though, his immediate horizon is simpler: one more European final, one more trophy to chase.
Villa have already given him a foothold in history. Palace could hand him the door.
