McGinn urges Aston Villa to avoid ‘almost men’ after reaching Europa League final
Aston Villa are through to the Europa League final after a 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest at Villa Park – 4-1 on aggregate – with John McGinn scoring twice in three minutes to book their place in Istanbul on May 20.
Ollie Watkins gave Villa the lead they needed on 36 minutes, Emiliano Buendia converted a penalty on 58 minutes, and McGinn etched his name into Villa history with two goals in quick succession in the final quarter of an hour.
Forest, fed up with their run in the Premier League, could not reproduce the competition that saw them take the lead in the first leg at the City Ground last Thursday.
Buendia: ‘I knew exactly what I wanted to do’
One of the biggest moments in the game came 13 minutes into the second half when referee Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez pointed to the spot after Forest was challenged in the box. Emiliano Buendia stepped up to tie the knot and delivered, even admitting afterwards that he didn’t feel the pressure.
“I took responsibility. It was one of the most important punishments for the team in recent years, but I wasn’t under pressure. I felt calm, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.”
“We know how difficult these games are, they showed some character in the first leg, we knew at the beginning that we had to start strong, everyone was running hard, fighting hard.
“I think the honor of winning the cup, with the history this club has, would be amazing. The fans really want this cup, and we will try. It is the final. We need to prepare well and continue in the Premier League because we need to finish as high as possible.”
McGinn conveys the pain of the semi-final exit
If Buendia was the calm head during the tie, McGinn was the heart of the night. The Scotland captain, who turned 31 last month, scored twice in the space of 183 seconds to seal the deal and admits afterwards that the final carries a weight he cannot fully express.
“I’m usually calm before games, but today I was nervous.” Tonight I got one of the best performances I’ve seen from a Villa team in a long time.
“I wasn’t nervous about the team coming in. We got into big games, maybe not big semi-finals. Forest’s injury probably helped us decide, but we had to spend – and we did. The atmosphere here was electric.
“I felt the bitterness in the morning, but now it’s about accepting it. You see the guys in 1982, who won the cup in the 90s. The club has faced a lot of difficulties, but such a great team deserves success. I hope we will deliver it.
“The points in football are very small, if we lose tonight, we are almost men.
“What I said to the boys is that they may not get another chance to play in the finals in Europe. They don’t come often. When you get to 31, it could be the last chance to enter the finals in Europe.”
Pereira: ‘There was no competition’
Forest manager Vitor Pereira was upset but confident in his assessment of what had happened over both legs, pointing to an injury problem that left him with an empty bench and players nowhere near full fitness.
“Competing in the semi-finals and a team like Aston Villa, we need everyone in condition to compete. If you look before the game on the bench we had three players, because others were injured. Our bench today – the solutions we had in the first team were Bakwa, Luca, Murillo, who we tried but he was injured and out of shape, and Yates. This solution is very short.
“Aina, come out. Morgan [Gibbs-White] outside. Sangare, come out. Murillo, get out. Callum [Hudson-Odoi]outside. Ndoye, go out. To bring a full squad we put three injured players on the bench and brought in three more players from the academy. To compete in the game in these conditions, after the game with Chelsea, and play in the semi-final is impossible. “
He also questioned the manager, although he stopped using it as the main explanation for the loss.
“I didn’t see it but I can tell you one thing, this referee was a high-level referee but not for us. Many yellow cards and mistakes, many mistakes we face and they forget. He allowed a lot of anger. In the end I don’t want to use excuses. To continue, today we were not at our level to enter the semi-finals.”
Aston Villa will now face German side Freiburg in the Europa League final in Istanbul on May 20, with a chance to win the club’s first European trophy since winning the European Cup in 1982.
