VILLA PARK — Slow and steady wins this Midlands race, and now one night in Istanbul stands between Aston Villa and their biggest achievement for 44 years.
For there in Turkey lies the tangible reward for calm progress under Unai Emery. What would be the cherry on top of the Spaniard’s era.
And while the Europa League is not quite the European Cup, a generation of Villa supporters have waited patiently to witness their side lift major silverware, and they will believe now is finally the time after a raucous evening at Villa Park.
It felt fitting too that Emiliano Buendia, Ollie Watkins and John McGinn were their heroes on the night, the trio – among Villa’s old guard – uniting to turn this Europa League semi-final against Nottingham Forest around, from 1-0 down after the first leg to emphatic 4-1 winners on aggregate.
INCREDIBLE John McGinn scores an almost identical goal minutes after his last and Aston Villa have four TNT Sports and HBO Max pic.twitter.com/yNwyv9oXO7
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 7, 2026Watkins played like a man possessed, before and especially after he was bandaged up following a collision with Morato. He looked intent on securing that World Cup spot, and this performance must surely have solidified the England striker’s position as Harry Kane’s back-up in North America this summer.
Prince William, who roared on every goal from the stands at Villa Park, would surely give Watkins’ inclusion in Thomas Tuchel’s squad the royal seal of approval.
Watkins had got the ball rolling for Villa, eradicating the early nerves when tapping in the opener on the night and leveller on aggregate.
Buendia had danced his way through Forest’s defence to assist, and the Argentine then scored Villa’s second from the spot after VAR intervened for a pull on Pau Torres’ shirt by Nikola Milenkovic.
Loaned out last year and free to leave last summer, few Villa fans could have foreseen Buendia leading the charge in a European semi-final in 2026, yet here he was providing the creative spark that Forest could not put out.
Buendia then rolled the carpet out for captain McGinn to take centre stage, the Scot rolling in two left-footed strikes to seal Villa’s place in the final.
John McGinn scored in Aston Villa’s 2019 play-off final win to earn promotion to the Premier League.Seven years later, he’s scored a brace to send them to a European final. What a journey pic.twitter.com/oEwQYowDVD
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 7, 2026A better pound for pound signing you will not find in the Premier League. McGinn joined from Hibernian for £2.75m in 2018.
That equates to just north of £340k for every year of service, less than £8,500 for every game played, while every goal – now 35 – has cost Villa just £79,000.
A bargain in modern football and a legend of the club already, McGinn was there with Villa in the Championship, scoring in the 2019 play-off final to help them return to the Premier League, and since then he has grafted his way towards becoming a player they dare not start without.
And though signed before Emery took charge, like Buendia and Watkins, McGinn has come to symbolise everything positive about Villa under the Spaniard.
“He’s been amazing,” McGinn said of Emery after the victory over Forest. “But so have all the managers I’ve played under. Steve Bruce gave me the confidence to play in England, Dean Smith gave me the confidence to play in the Premier League, Steven Gerrard taught me how to be a leader.”
Together, Villa and McGinn have punched above their weight, and now the crowning moment of the Emery era is within touching distance, with Freiburg their final opponents on 20 May.
“It would mean everything,” McGinn said at the prospect of lifting silverware with Villa.
He would be the first Villa captain to do so since Andy Townsend in 1996, and no one in claret and blue would deserve it more.
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