Aston Villa and Freiburg have reached the Europa League final after defeating Nottingham Forest and Sporting Braga in the second leg of the semi-finals on Thursday.
At Villa Park, Aston Villa produced a dominant 4–0 win over Nottingham Forest in an all-English clash, overturning a 1–0 first-leg defeat to advance 4–1 on aggregate.
Ollie Watkins opened the scoring in the 36th minute, before Argentine Emiliano Buendía doubled the lead from the penalty spot in the 58th minute.
Captain John McGinn then stole the spotlight late on, scoring twice in the 77th and 80th minutes to send Villa into the European final.
This was Aston Villa’s second win over Nottingham Forest this season in all competitions, after beating them 3–1 in the Premier League in January. Nottingham Forest had been hoping to revive their continental glory, having last won a European title in 1980.
In Germany, Freiburg overturned a 2–1 first-leg loss to Braga by winning 3–1 at the Europa-Park Stadion, advancing 4–3 on aggregate.
Braga were reduced to 10 men early after Ivorian midfielder Mario Dorgeles was sent off in the 7th minute, and Freiburg quickly took advantage.
Lucas Kübler scored the opening goal in the 19th minute, while Swiss midfielder Johan Manzambi added a second in the 41st minute. Kübler then struck again in the same minute to make it 3–0 for Freiburg, before Spanish forward Pau Víctor scored Braga’s only goal in the 79th minute.
The final is scheduled for 20 May in Istanbul. Aston Villa are aiming to become the sixth English club to win the Europa League, while Freiburg hope to become the sixth German club to lift the trophy.
