Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins has revealed that he will seek inspiration for next week's Europa League final against Freiburg by watching footage of Peter Withe's famous winner in the 1982 European Cup final. Withe scored the only goal in Rotterdam 44 years ago to secure Villa's last major European honour, a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich.
Ending a 30-Year Trophy Drought
Villa's last major trophy came in the 1996 League Cup, and they aim to end a 30-year wait when they face Bundesliga side Freiburg at Besiktas Park in Istanbul on Wednesday. Watkins admitted he has not yet seen Withe's goal but plans to watch it in the coming days for motivation.
"I haven't actually seen it, but I'm going to. I'm going to look back at it in these next few days before the final as inspiration," Watkins said. "I think Peter Withe is a legend. He came into Bodymoor Heath. I've met him quite a few times. He came into the training ground last week to watch. It's amazing that we can have a legend around the place."
Road to the Final
Villa secured their place in the final with a 4-1 aggregate win over Nottingham Forest in the semi-finals. Unai Emery's side then confirmed Champions League qualification with a 4-2 victory over Liverpool on Friday night, ending a run of one win in five league games.
Watkins believes the team can now fully focus on the Europa League final. "For the last couple of league games it's been hard to focus because we've had such highs in the Europa League. It's been hard to focus on our Premier League form. So now we've done what we set out to do. We've achieved Champions League football and now we're going to do all we can to win on Wednesday."
Watkins' Resurgence
The 30-year-old has turned his season around after being left out of Thomas Tuchel's England squad in March. He has scored nine Premier League goals since, taking his season tally to 14 with a double against Liverpool, forcing his way back into World Cup contention.
"Like I said, everything happens for a reason. I think me being left out of the England squad was a little bit of a blessing. I could go back, refocus and think hard about what I need to bring to the team. When you're just not thinking about anything, everything you do seems to work. That's the mindset I'm in right now. I feel like I'm in my best form that I've been for a while," Watkins added.
