European Glory
Aston Villa have booked a trip to Estádio do Dragão, the Dragon Stadium, for the Europa League Final after managing to beat Turkish side Fenerbahce in the Semi-Finals.
In the first leg at Villa Park, Fenerbahce were outclassed by their English opponents and
Adam Campbell struck twice for the home side to give them a 2-0 advantage.
The second leg in Turkey leaned in favor of Fenerbahce, but they were still unable to finish. Campbell, however, took his chances, and scored a goal again to propel his Aston Villa side into the Final of the Europa League on a 3-0 aggregate.
At the start of the season, Villa captain
Ciaran Clark had this to say: "The boys all believe that we can be playing at Estádio do Dragão at the end of the season."
Indeed, that strong belief has paid off.
Beating teams like Liverpool, Standard Liege and Valencia, Villa rampaged their way up the Europa League and will now look to wrestle the coveted European trophy from fellow finalists Chelsea.
The Blues are also in the Final after a 5-4 aggregate win over Portuguese side Vitor Guimaraes.
"I'm buzzing," said Clark, when interviewed again after the match in Turkey. "We worked so hard for this, and now it's come true. We are in the Europa League Final."
Gary Gardner will miss the Final through suspension after picking up one too many yellow cards, and the 23-year-old is said to be devastated.
Clark expressed sympathy for Gardner, whom he has been teammates with since their time in the Aston Villa academy.
"Gary's obviously devastated, and of course we feel for him. Playing in a Final is a big thing and if I was him I wouldn't exactly be very happy either. We will be trying to win the cup for him and the gaffer. David has been very good with us and it's mostly credit to him that we are going to be there, in Estádio do Dragão."