Villa thrash Forest to reach Europa League final
‘We didn’t want to leave these games with regrets’
John McGinn said Aston Villa took a giant step towards proving they are not “nearly men” after securing their spot in a first European final since 1982 in front of Prince William, who afterwards joined the players in the dressing room.
Villa’s captain scored twice late on as Villa romped to a 4-0 Europa League semi-final second-leg win over Nottingham Forest to maintain Unai Emery’s hopes of a record fifth title in the competition. Villa will face Freiburg in Istanbul on 20 May.
This was Villa’s third semi-final in three seasons, having exited at the last-four stage in the Europa Conference League in 2023-24 and lost their FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace last season.
