(Credit: Imago/BBC Sport)

Jacob Raw

Thu 7 May 2026 22:06, UK

Ex-Aston Villa star Dion Dublin was rightly impressed with Emi Buendia’s assist for Ollie Watkins‘ opening goal against Nottingham Forest this Thursday.

The Villans dramatically booked their place in the Europa League final, after overcoming a one-goal deficit at Villa Park to beat Nottingham Forest 4-1 on aggregate.

Unai Emery made some big calls for the contest, but the Villa boss stuck to his usual favourties in attack.

Not only did Buendia score the penalty to put the hosts ahead, but he set up Watkins for arguably the most important goal of the two ties, the turning point.

Dublin was impressed by Buendia’s overall performance, but the assist for Watkins took him back the most.

Dion Dublin impressed with Emi Buendia’s composure

Buendia’s form has dipped in recent matches, but everybody knows of the Argentine’s true quality when on top of his game.

The 29-year-old was on top of his game against the Reds, and looked deserving of a player who should lift silverware at the end of this campaign.

Buendia had five shots against Forest, with two being on target, as he also created four chances, with one of them being a big opportunity, the assist.

The attacker also had a 67 per cent dribbling accuracy, while also getting stuck in defensively with eight successive ground duels out of 13.

While speaking on BBC‘s Radio 5 Live, Dublin gave Buendia deserved credit for his assist, a moment that may have gone unappreciated.

Dublin said: “It’s great wide play from Buendia, he has the composure to wait and to wait, and to pick out his centre forward, the goal machine Watkins.

“Good positional play from him, he bounces the ball out left and then sprints into the box to get into a good goalscoring position, and he couldn’t miss.”

As seen in the image above, Buendia’s expected assists tally for the game was 0.99, which was heightened by putting the ball on a plate for Watkins in the first half.

How did Villa’s Europa League final opponents get on?

Freiburg faced Braga at home, with the latter having a 2-1 advantage heading into the second leg.

It was the Bundesliga outfit in Freiburg who managed to win the second leg 3-1 and 4-3 on aggregate, and will meet Villa in the final on Wednesday 20 May, in Istanbul, Turkey.

It’s fair to say that Freiburg dominated the game with 66 per cent possession, while they also created 1.68 in expected goals, scoring three but also missing three big chances.

The German outfit currently sits seventh in the Bundesliga, with two games left of their league campaign, one coming just four days before the final.

Regardless, both sides look in great form ahead of the showdown, which is set to be an instant classic.