'Become legends like 82': Aston Villa talisman John McGinn lays down Europa League challenge
The Villa skipper led from the front and scored the goals that sent his side to a Europa League final.
John McGinn has called on his Villa team-mates to ‘become legends’ as they thumped Nottingham Forest to reach the Europa League final.
A goal down from the first leg, Unai Emery’s side ran all over their Premier League rivals, and were dominant from start to finish.
Ollie Watkins had Villa level in the tie by half time - before Emi Buendia’s penalty put Villa ahead in the second period.
As he has done on so many occasions for Villa, McGinn stepped up late on as he netted two superb goals to make the scoreline emphatic and book his side’s place in the Istanbul final.
McGinn revealed after the match that he was feeling the pressure of the occasion before the game.
He believes it was one of the best performances he has seen from a Villa side - and has challenged his team mates to capture ‘legend’ status by winning the competition.
“I’m normally quite calm before games but today the pressure was intense,” McGinn told TNT Sports.
“As a group of players we deserve to go one step further. We have had a few semi-final disappointments and we can kid on that it doesn’t affect us, but today I was nervous.
“Tonight was one of the best performances I’ve seen from a Villa team in a long, long time.
“We were fortunate with the injuries Nottingham Forest had but we had to capitalise and we did.
“I said to the lads before that some will get the chance to play in a semi-final in Europe again, but at 31 I might not get another chance.
“The celebrations were great at the end but there is one to go.
“I felt the expectation this morning but it is about embracing it now, about trying to become legends.
“You see the lads from 1982, the cup winners from the 1990s, it is an historic club that has come through some massive lows of relegation and building back.
“This club deserves success and we want to be the group that does it.”