Unai Emery stepped into Villa Park and immediately set his sights on silverware. In his debut press conference back in November 2022, the Spanish manager made clear his ambition. Now, just over three years later, Villa stands on the brink of achieving that goal.
Amid a thunderous, celebratory atmosphere at Villa Park on Thursday, the club punched their ticket to the Europa League final with a commanding victory over Nottingham Forest. They will face Freiburg of Germany in Istanbul on 20 May, yet few would wager against Emery clinching a fifth Europa League title.
Villa are now just one match away from their first major trophy in three decades and a first European honor in 44 years, aiming to join the club’s European Cup-winning heroes of 1982.
“Now we need to go and win it,” said striker Ollie Watkins, reflecting the team’s mindset.
A banner commemorating Peter Withe’s winning goal against Bayern Munich in Rotterdam hangs above the Doug Ellis Stand. Should Villa triumph in Turkey, another banner may be needed, and victory would also secure a return to the Champions League, regardless of their Premier League top-five finish.
John McGinn’s late double sealed a dominant display that overwhelmed Nottingham Forest. Manager Vitor Pereira had Morgan Gibbs-White, Ibrahim Sangare and Murillo on the bench, but only Murillo saw two minutes of action after the match was effectively decided. Even with that trio fully fit, Forest may have struggled to contain a rampant Villa side that only raised the tempo as the game wore on.
Ollie Watkins opened the scoring and Emi Buendía converted a penalty to give Villa the lead on the night and in the tie. From that point onward, there was never any doubt – a performance that even earned royal approval, as Prince William visited the dressing room afterward to offer congratulations.
“They (the players) were so focused, they were aware about the momentum,” Emery said. “We planned before emotionally and how we were playing the match. It was the only match we played with this circumstances. The possibility to get to a final was the only moment we’ve had here. We were confident about how the supporters were here and creating this atmosphere.”
This will be Emery’s sixth Europa League final. He has won four of his previous five, a record, with the sole loss coming against Chelsea while managing Arsenal in 2019.
“Europe is very important,” Emery said. “In my first press conference here I was speaking about Europe, I was speaking about trophies as well, but it’s very difficult. It’s difficult to get trophies. In Europe, it’s difficult to be consistent like we are. It’s through our hard work and the players must set the standards we want to achieve. Today the players (gave) their best, collectively and individually.”
Only Giovanni Trapattoni, with seven major European finals, has reached more than Emery.
“There’s no better manager than this to get us prepared for this game and take us into the final. His track record speaks for itself,” Watkins told TNT. “We need to go and win it now.”
Watkins acknowledged that changes to the squad are expected this summer, making this current run a final chance for this group to achieve something together. Emery has extracted everything from his players. Several, including Watkins, Ezri Konsa, Matty Cash and Morgan Rogers, arrived from the Championship, and there is an internal recognition that the squad requires a revamp.
Captain John McGinn also recognized that the players now have an opportunity to be remembered alongside past heroes such as European Cup-winning captain Dennis Mortimer and Paul McGrath, who lifted the League Cup in 1994 and 1996.
“We’ve had low moments, definitely. It’s a demanding club to play for, but when it’s like this, Villa Park is electric,” McGinn told TNT.
