Aston Villa are through to their first European final in 44 years after they thrashed Nottingham Forest 4-0 in the all-English Europa League semi-final to advance 4-1 on aggregate.
Boss Unai Emery is now one win away from a fifth title in a competition he specialises in and only Bundesliga outfit Freiburg stand between Villa and their first major trophy in 30 years. Freiburg reached the final after a 3-1 home win over 10-man Braga, with Lukas Kuebler scoring twice to fire the hosts into their first European showpiece match.
Aston Villa came into the second leg trailing to Chris Wood’s penalty last week, but no one knows their way around a Europa League semi-final better than Emery.
His side turned the tie around in style as goals from Ollie Watkins, Emiliano Buendia and John McGinn’s quick-fire double earned victory on the night and booked their place in the Istanbul final on May 20th.
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In the Uefa Conference League, Crystal Palace soared into their first European final after the tournament’s top scorer Ismaila Sarr scored his ninth goal in the competition to claim a 2-1 semi-final second-leg victory over Shakhtar Donetsk.
For at least a certain generation of Eagles supporters, this was undoubtedly the most important fixture in nearly 102 years of Selhurst Park history, one the hosts entered with a 3-1 first-leg advantage and went on to settle the tie 5-2 on aggregate.
Daniel Munoz instigated a Pedro Henrique own goal to open the scoring in the 25th minute, cancelled out by Eguinaldo’s stylish wake-up call of an equaliser before the break.
The instrumental Sarr punched Palace’s tickets to a Leipzig final against Rayo Vallecano seven minutes into the second half, extending his scoring streak to five consecutive Conference League matches.
Rayo Vallecano beat Strasbourg 2-0 on aggregate after a 1-0 victory in France, ending Irish defender Andrew Omobamidele’s hopes of playing in a European final.
