Aston Villa stormed back emphatically after 44 years and revived their dreams of claiming a major European trophy. On Thursday night, the Villans crushed Nottingham Forest 4-0 at a raucous Villa Park, securing a commanding 4-1 aggregate victory to reach the Europa League final.
Ollie Watkins opened the scoring in the 36th minute, calmly slotting home from close range after a dazzling run by Emiliano Buendía despite shaking off a head injury moments earlier.
Moreover, Buendía doubled the lead from the penalty spot following a VAR-reviewed foul on Pau Torres. Furthermore, captain John McGinn sealed the rout with two clinical late strikes, sending Villa Park into wild celebrations.
Meanwhile,John McGinn has applaused Aston Villa’s display to reach the UEFA Europa League final highlighting that it is one of the best during his time at the club.
“What we’ve done over the last few years has been exceptional, and that’s what I said to the lads before the game: we needed to do ourselves justice.
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“The margins in football are so slim that if we lost tonight we’d be the nearly men. When we go to Istanbul, we need to make sure we’re not the nearly men.”
“The way this club’s grown, I feel like I’ve managed to grow step-by-step alongside it.
“There’ve been moments when I’ve not been at my best, but here at Villa Park is where I feel comfortable. I’m loving it at the minute.”
“Now it’s about embracing it and trying to become legends,” he said.
“You see the guys from 1982 and the cup winners from the 1990s – it’s an historic club. It’s been a long time without success and they’ve been through some massive lows: relegation and then building back up.
“It’s a proud football club and it deserves success. Hopefully we can be the group that does it.”
Under the astute leadership of Unai Emery, Aston Villa now face SC Freiburg in the Europa League final in Istanbul on May 20. This victory not only ends a long wait for a European final appearance since 1982 but also fuels momentum heading into a crucial run of Premier League fixtures.
Villa will travel to Burnley on Sunday, May 10, seeking vital points on the road. Next, they host Liverpool at Villa Park on Friday, May 15. Finally, they conclude the league campaign away at Manchester City on May.
