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Aston Villa captain John McGinn says his side must shed the “almost men” tag and become legends by ending the club’s 30-year wait for Europa League success.
44 years ago in 1982, Villa reached their first major European final since winning the Club European Cup. An emphatic 4-1 aggregate win over Nottingham Forest at Villa Park on Thursday..
McGinn scored twice on the evening after goals from Ollie Watkins and Amy Buendia erased Forest’s advantage from the first encounter at the City Ground.
Now, Villa face Bundesliga side Freiburg in Istanbul on May 20 to lift their first major trophy since the 1996 League Cup.
“It’s a demanding club to play for, but when it’s like that, Villa Park is electric. Every other week there’s no better place to play your football or European football,” McGinn said. TNT Sports.
“What we have done in the last few weeks is exceptional. The margin is very thin – if we lose tonight, we are almost men. When we go to Istanbul in 10 days, we have to make sure we are not almost men.
“It’s about embracing (the pressure) and trying to be legendary. You look at the guys from 1982, you look at the cup winners in the 90s. It’s a historic club, and it hasn’t been successful for a long time.
“There have been massive lows like relegation, and it has built itself up. This is such a proud football club, it deserves success, and hopefully we can be the team to do it.”
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Unai Emery stressed the importance of finishing a Champions League spot in the Premier League table despite reaching the Europa League final.
Villa responds to ‘intense’ pressure and delivers
Villa went into the field, their biggest game since the appointment of Unai Emery in 2022, low on form. Three consecutive defeats to Fulham, Forest and Tottenham led to widespread criticism of both players and managers.
Despite that increased pressure on the team, Villa delivered when it mattered most and now have the chance to write a new chapter at a club steeped in previous success stories.
“I’m usually pretty calm before games, but the pressure was intense today,” McGinn added. “After some semi-final disappointments this group of players deserves to go one step further to reach the final.
“You can say it doesn’t affect you, but today I was nervous. Tonight I had one of the best performances I’ve seen from a Villa team in a long time. We started with purpose. We were quite lucky with Forrest’s injury, and we needed to capitalise.
John McGinn and Morgan Rodgers celebrate during Aston Villa’s 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest to reach the Europa League final
“I wasn’t nervous in terms of the team’s build-up. We’ve done it in big games before, maybe not in the semi-finals, but on the last day against Brighton for promotion and to go to Europe.
“So to stay up, that’s probably the most pressure on you. It was more about us sending a guy off or something like that, because we didn’t manage that first leg very well. I didn’t want to leave these two games with any regrets, and we did ourselves a huge justice tonight.”
Watkins: We have to go out there and win now
Villa forward Watkins paid tribute to manager Emery after guiding his side to the Europa League final.
“There’s no better manager to prepare us for this game and obviously take us to the final. His track record speaks for itself,” Watkins said. TNT Sports.
“We’re in a great position, but we’ve got to go out there and win now.”
Watkins praised the collective effort of the Villa side, who came up short in their last Premier League match.
This England forward said, after the performance against Tottenham, everyone’s mind was on this game.
“Everyone worked so hard. It’s hard to pick a man of the match – we’re all amazing.”
