Aston Villa's Journey to Europa League Glory
Unai Emery walked into Villa Park in November 2022 and said he was here to win trophies. Not to stabilise. Not to “build a project”. To win.
On Thursday night, under the floodlights and a wall of noise, Aston Villa took a giant step towards making that promise real.
They crushed Nottingham Forest to book a place in the Europa League final. Freiburg await in Istanbul on 20 May. With Emery in this competition, you’d be brave to back against him.
Villa on the brink of history
Villa now stand one game from their first major trophy in 30 years and a first European title in 44. The ghosts of 1982 have hovered over this club for decades; suddenly, they feel close enough to touch.
Above the Doug Ellis Stand hangs the commentary line from Peter Withe’s winner against Bayern Munich in Rotterdam. For years it has been a reminder of what Villa once were. In two weeks’ time, the club might need fresh paint and a new banner if Emery’s side finish the job in Turkey – and with it, secure a Champions League return regardless of their Premier League position.
On this evidence, they are ready. Villa didn’t just beat Forest; they overwhelmed them. John McGinn’s late double only underlined a performance that crackled with intent from the first whistle.
Forest arrived with problems. Vitor Pereira could name Morgan Gibbs-White, Ibrahim Sangare and Murillo on the bench, but none were truly fit. Only Murillo appeared, and then for a token couple of minutes with the tie already gone.
The truth is, even at full strength, Forest might have found this Villa side too much. Emery’s team started fast and simply kept turning the screw.
Ollie Watkins struck first to settle any early nerves. Emi Buendia, once on the brink of the exit door, then stepped up and buried a penalty to put Villa ahead on the night and in the tie. From that moment, doubt vanished. Villa played with the swagger of a side that knew exactly where it was heading.
The performance even drew Royal approval. A beaming Prince William, a long-time Villa fan, dropped into the dressing room afterwards to offer his congratulations.
Emery’s domain: Europe
Emery stood on the touchline like a man in his natural habitat. This will be his sixth Europa League final. Four wins already, one defeat – that 2019 loss with Arsenal against Chelsea – and a record that now sits just behind Giovanni Trapattoni in terms of major European finals reached. Only the Italian, with seven, has more.
“They were so focused, they were aware about the momentum,” Emery said afterwards. He talked about planning the game emotionally as much as tactically, knowing this was a one-off occasion for the club: a single 90 minutes with a final at the end of it.
“Europe is very important,” he reminded everyone. From day one, he spoke about Europe and trophies, and he has refused to dilute those ambitions. He knows how hard it is to win, how hard it is to be consistent at this level, and he demanded his players set their own standards. On this night, they did.
Watkins, speaking to TNT, didn’t bother hiding his admiration. “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. We need to go and win it now.”
There was a hint of reality too. Watkins acknowledged that changes are expected in the summer. This group, as it stands, is nearing the end of its cycle. That gives this run an edge: a last chance for this particular dressing room to etch its name into Villa history.
Emery has squeezed everything from them. Watkins, Ezri Konsa, Matty Cash, Morgan Rogers – players who arrived from the Championship – now stand one win from European glory. Inside the club, there is acceptance that the squad will need a refresh. But nobody is thinking about that yet.
Chasing the legends
McGinn, the captain driving this side from midfield, knows exactly what is at stake. He spoke of the demands of playing for Villa, of the low moments and the pressure that comes with a club of this size.
When Villa Park crackles like it did here, he said, it’s electric. The last few years have been exceptional, but this is the chance to cross the line from admired to immortal.
He referenced the heroes whose shadows still fall across the place: European Cup-winning captain Dennis Mortimer, Paul McGrath lifting the League Cups in 1994 and 1996. McGinn wants this group to sit alongside them, not beneath them.
It has been a long road back. Relegation. Anger. Drift. Villa rebuilt themselves brick by brick, and now stand on the edge of the kind of success that once felt distant, almost nostalgic. McGinn called it a proud football club that deserves success. He’s right. Now it’s down to him and his team-mates to deliver it.
Buendia’s redemption arc
Few stories in this Villa side are as striking as Emi Buendia’s.
Not long ago, his Villa career looked finished. Loaned to Bayer Leverkusen in the second half of last season, he managed just three Bundesliga starts. For a player signed from Norwich in 2021 for a fee rising to £38m, it felt like the end of a misfire. Four goals in 38 games in his first campaign did not justify the billing.
Then came a serious knee injury that wiped out his entire 2023-24 season. As Villa surged into the Champions League places without him, Buendia slipped into the background. Villa, needing to balance the books under Profit and Sustainability rules, were ready to sell last summer.
They didn’t. That decision now looks inspired.
This season, Buendia has become one of Emery’s most trusted performers, scoring 10 goals and effectively blocking Harvey Elliott’s proposed loan from Liverpool. On this night, he took the responsibility that defines big players: he grabbed the ball for a crucial penalty and never blinked.
“I took responsibility,” he told TNT. He knew how decisive that spot-kick could be for the club, but he spoke of calm, of clarity over what he wanted to do. The ball hit the net, Villa surged, and Forest never recovered.
Buendia talked about the prestige of winning a trophy at a club with Villa’s history, how much the fans crave it and how determined the players are to give it to them. You believed every word.
Former Villa striker Dion Dublin, watching on for BBC Radio 5 Live, highlighted the Argentine’s value. Buendia, he said, often goes under the radar. His passing weight, his finishing, his willingness to put a foot in – all of it makes him the kind of player you need if you’re serious about winning things. He doesn’t chase headlines. He chases finals.
Now he has one.
Emery promised trophies. Istanbul offers him, and Aston Villa, the chance to turn that promise into something that will hang from the stands for decades. The only question left is whether this team can seize the night and write a new line to sit alongside Withe’s in the Villa Park sky.
