EU ‘LL Crowd control can
JOHN MCGINN has called upon Villa Park to raise the roof and shout Unai Emery’s team to the Champions League.
Aston Villa’s skipper made the impassioned plea after Thursday night’s gruelling two-hour epic in Lille in which the club booked their first appearance in a European semi-final for over 40 years.
Matty Cash’s late goal enabled Villa to claw themselves back into a Europa Conference League tie that appeared beyond them and keeper Emi Martinez’s dubious expertise in the penalty shootout saw them over the line.
But Mcginn knows Villa must dig deep against Andoni Iraola’s Cherries.
And he wants a fully engaged crowd this afternoon.
The Scot said: “There were a lot of bumps and bruises in the dressing room after Lille.
“Thankfully I’ll be fresher than most – but we will need everyone at Villa Park to carry us through because it is going to be an incredible team effort after 120 minutes on Thursday night to go and play a team like Bournemouth who will have had eight days to prepare.
“We will need everyone on Sunday to rally us and help get us those three points. It makes a big difference. One hundred per cent, it does.
“That adrenaline gets you through the time you are playing through bruises and pain. And the adrenaline the Holte End generates certainly helps.
“Hopefully the fans can appreciate what we have put in during the past few weeks and get us over the line.”
Emery was mindful of the effort that has been expended as Villa have maintained their battle on two fronts. Two hours’ solid graft in northern France against Lille – following on from a severe examination at The Emirates last week – have stretched both his resources and the physical limits of his players.
They were off-colour early on in their Europa Conference League quarter-final and were lucky not to pay the price.
Winger Leon Bailey wore strapping on his thigh but managed to come on from the subs’ bench.
He said: “We’re trying to recover the players who have played 120 minutes.
“We will need to be strong. The match will be difficult.
“When we played at Bournemouth, it was very tough. I appreciate their coach, the players – they are pushing.”
Villa now have three fixtures in the next 10 days – today against the Cherries, at home to Olympiakos and again at Villa Park when Chelsea are the visitors – that could well shape the rest of their season.
It would complete a staggering rebirth of the former European champions if Emery can lead them to a trophy and Champions League qualification in his first full season at the club.
He said: “When I arrived here, the message from the first press conference was let’s play in Europe. We try to fight for every cup we play.
“This is the level I want to keep at for
next year.”