Unai Emery's side head to Istanbul with history in their sights in their first major European final for 44 years.Villa famously defied the odds to shock Bayern Munich in the 1982 European Cup final, thanks to Peter Withe's clinical finish.Looking to emulate Withe's celebrated moment, Villa striker Ollie Watkins said he would seek out footage of the winner against Bayern as he prepared to face German underdogs Freiburg at the Besiktas Stadium."I haven't actually seen Withe's winner, but I'm going to. I'm going to look back at it in these next few days before the final as inspiration," Watkins said."I think Peter is a legend. I've met him quite a few times. He came into the training ground last week to watch."It's amazing that he can do that and that we can have a legend around the place."The decades since Bayern were beaten on that golden evening in Rotterdam have not always been kind to Villa.They were twice relegated to the second tier, in 1987 and 2016, and have lost all four of their domestic final appearances since defeating Leeds to win the 1996 League Cup.But Villa have been revived by the astute Emery, reaching the Champions League quarter-finals last term and climbing to fourth in the Premier League with one game left this season.Their run to the final has earned the royal seal of approval from loyal Villa fan Prince William.
Villa inspired by former heroes as they target Europa League glory
Aston Villa are taking inspiration from the club's former European champions as they seek to end their 30-year trophy drought in the Europa League final against Freiburg on Wednesday.










