Aston Villa is going back to a place it hasn't been for four decades. With 4-0 against Nottingham Forest at Villa Park (4-1 on aggregate), the Birmingham club has fought its way to its first European final in 44 years. On the other side waits SC Freiburg, and the trophy is the one carried by the Europa League.

The hero of the night is John McGinn. The Scottish midfielder broke the visitors' hearts with two goals in the last fifteen minutes - the first an explosive strike into the far corner in the 77th minute, the second only three minutes later to close out the story. A captain's performance at the moment the club needed its leader most.

By then, the match was already under the home side's control. Ollie Watkins opened in the 36th minute after a combination with Emi Buendía, and the Argentine doubled the lead from a penalty after a foul on Pau Torres. Forest goalkeeper Stefan Ortega kept his side alive early in the match with a save from a Torres header, but couldn't do much more.

Emiliano Martínez on the other side had work only once - when Chris Wood went through one-on-one, the Argentine keeper closed the angles fast. Forest played like a team that already knew the tie was lost.

For Villa fans, this is a generational night. The last time the club played a European final was 1982 - the European Cup against Bayern Munich, when Peter Withe scored the only goal. Since then a Yugoslav state has come and gone and the Balkans have lived through three transitions.

The final is next. Freiburg isn't the favourite, on paper or in Las Vegas, but finals have their own logic. The question for Villa now is simple: will this generation let history repeat itself, or write its own?