Unai Emery faces another date with destiny.
A fifth Europa League title is within his grasp – and with it he would cement his legacy at Aston Villa.
Emery’s four Europa League crowns are already a competition record.
Freiburg stand in the way on Wednesday, in what is his sixth European final. Only former AC Milan, Juventus and Bayern Munich boss Giovanni Trapattoni has managed more, with seven.
He has guided Villa to their first European final for 44 years, since they lifted the European Cup, and to the brink of ending a 30-year trophy drought.
The 54-year-old arrived at Villa in October 2022 declaring he had joined to win silverware. In Istanbul, that wait could end.
At Besiktas Park on Wednesday, Emery will stand on the touchline for his sixth Europa League final in 12 years.
He lost the 2019 final to Chelsea while at Arsenal, where his 18-month reign was seen as a failure.
But he has more triumphs in the competition than any other manager; three with Sevilla – in 2014, 2015 and 2016 – when they beat Liverpool – before a penalty shootout victory over Manchester United with Villarreal in 2021.
Emery, though, insists that will mean nothing come kick-off against their Bundesliga rivals.
“I am not a king in this competition,” he said. “I am now here with Aston Villa in a new chapter. Everything I did is done and of course it’s there in that moment but with it I am not winning.
“I need to win [in Turkey] with the players we have now, with Villa now. So now it’s a new way, a new moment, and hopefully a new era.
“If you are not respecting the opponent, you are closer to losing. If you are not respecting Europe, like we did during the process, we are not here. This is the strong mentality we had before.
“We have a huge challenge, a huge challenge. Are we thinking about the next party on Friday? No, no.”