Manchester City feature in Premier League action tonight as they travel to Bournemouth.
Aston Villa’s European Final Preparations
Aston Villa are preparing for their Europa League final against Freiburg. The final is just over a day away. There is plenty of claret and blue in Istanbul already.
It has been 44 years since Aston Villa last competed in a European final and their fanbase are determined to make the most of it.
Unai Emery denied he was the ‘king’ of the Europa League. He has four wins in five finals, the most for a manager in the tournament, having lost to Chelsea with Arsenal in 2019. Emery insisted his record means nothing come kick off in Istanbul.
His experience, and what his squad have gained from a Europa Conference League semi-final defeat to Olympiacos two years ago and last season’s Champions League quarter-final exit to Paris St Germain could still prove telling in Turkey.
McGinn’s Pride and Onana’s Fitness
John McGinn shared his thoughts on being Aston Villa captain and reaching the Europa League final: “Now? I would say so, yeah. It has been a brilliant journey, full of ups and downs, close moments, very close to going back to the Championship.
“It fills me with pride as to where the club is now and it also fills me with pride as to where this club could go, like the manager has touched upon, this isn’t something we want to come here, celebrate and have a fanfare, we want to be focussed on this match, we know how good Freiburg are.
“We know how difficult it is to get to a final, so we will treat them with the respect they deserve.
“We will only build as a club if we keep doing the same things we are doing.
“But if you ask me on a personal level, throughout the years I have been here, definitely this is the proudest moment as captain here.”
Unai Emery commented on the fitness of Aston Villa midfielder Amadou Onana: “He trained yesterday, he is going to train today and we will decide tomorrow if he is feeling 100% well.
“He is an important player for us but the last matches without him and without Boubacar Kamara, with different options we played. I am confident.”
There is more live football tonight in the Premier League as Tottenham travel to Chelsea. Build up starts from 18:30 BST.
Wish it could have been us but will be cheering you on. Villa are a great club.