Ollie Watkins has praised Aston Villa's remarkable transformation from relegation battlers to Europa League winners, highlighting the special achievement of bringing the trophy back to Birmingham after 44 years.
From Relegation to European Glory
Villa finished 17th in their first season back in the Premier League in 2019-20 and were battling at the wrong end of the table when Unai Emery replaced Steven Gerrard in November 2022. Fast forward just over three-and-a-half years, and Emery has guided the club to consistent European competition.
Watkins, who has scored 19 goals across all competitions this season, expressed his excitement about the club's rise. He said: "The real atmosphere was out on the pitch. I'm looking forward to bringing that trophy back, I'm looking forward to the party ahead. Very special day."
Team Resilience
The striker credited the team's belief and resilience for their success. "That belief has brought us together really. The Nottingham Forest game we showed resilience and that really brought us together. It kind of surprised us how much we can dig in and pull together as a team. We were close to relegation and to come back and do this now and bring a trophy back to Birmingham is special."
Emiliano Martinez's Heroic Effort
In the warm-up ahead of Wednesday night's 3-0 win over Freiburg at Besiktas Park, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez appeared to injure his hand and was checked over by club physios. Despite leaving the warm-up early, Martinez started the match and kept a clean sheet.
The 33-year-old World Cup winner revealed after the game that he had played with a broken finger. He told ESPN: "What we achieved was beautiful. I feel proud and the feeling I keep growing match after match. Today I broke my finger during the warm-up, but I didn't see it as a bad thing. I've never broken a finger before and every time I tried to catch the ball the finger would just slip away in the other direction. But, these are just things you have to go through."
