Emery takes Aston Villa to Europa League final, ending 30-year trophy drought close

Aston Villa are one win from ending a 30-year wait for a trophy after Unai Emery’s side crushed Nottingham Forest 4-0 at Villa Park to reach the Europa League final 4-1 on aggregate. John McGinn scored twice, with Ollie Watkins and Emi Buendia also on target, and Villa will meet Freiburg in Istanbul on May 20.

The scale of the turnaround under Emery has been striking. When he arrived on 24 October 2022, Villa were close to the relegation zone and searching for direction. He said he wanted trophies, and the club are now within touching distance of one, with their first European final in 44 years secured by a commanding semi-final performance rather than a narrow escape.

Emery’s impact has gone well beyond one knockout run. He lifted Villa to fourth place in the Premier League in 2023-24 and delivered the club’s first-ever qualification for the Champions League. Villa then rewarded him with a new contract running through 2029, a sign that the club now sees his project as long-term rather than temporary.

For Villa, the significance of the run is sharpened by history. Their last trophy came in the 1996 League Cup, then known as the Coca-Cola Cup, when they beat Leeds United 3-0 at Wembley on March 24, 1996. That final was watched by 77,056 fans, and it remains the last time Aston Villa lifted silverware.

Emery has repeatedly pushed Villa to think like a club that should be competing for honours, and this season has made that argument harder to dismiss. The Forest victory was not just another result; it was the clearest evidence yet that Villa have moved from survival mode to the edge of a major European prize. If they finish the job in Istanbul, the drought that has hung over the club for three decades will finally be over.