(Credit: Imago)

Jacob Raw

Fri 8 May 2026 11:10, UK

Ex-Aston Villa star Jack Grealish was keeping an eye on the Villans’ Europa League semi-final win over Nottingham Forest, and like many supporters, was wowed by John McGinn.

Villa thumped Forest 4-0 to book their one-way ticket to a Europa League final in Istanbul, where they will face Bundesliga outfit Freiburg for a shot at silverware.

Unai Emery is a four-time Europa League winner with past experiences at Sevilla and Villarreal, as the optics look good for Villa to grab their first European trophy since 1982.

The Villans had many inspirational performances on the night, with Victor Lindelof playing out of his skin in a new role, and Ollie Watkins in top form, despite suffering a gash to the head.

However, McGinn was on fire against Nottingham Forest and has even earned the plaudits of the divisive Grealish.

What did Jack Grealish say?

McGinn scored a quick-fire brace against Nottingham Forest to wrap up the contest for Villa, netting his sixth and seventh goals of this season.

The 31-year-old has now made 327 appearances for the Villans, and all fans want to see is the captain lift the trophy.

As seen in the table above, McGinn had a 100 per cent long ball accuracy, while completing 17 of his 25 passes.

The Scottish international also had 100 per cent shooting accuracy with his three attempts on goal, which earned him a deserved 8.8 FotMob rating.

McGinn had 44 touches on the night, was only dispossessed twice, and made three fouls. He truly covered almost every blade of grass.

Taking to Instagram while watching the game, Grealish uploaded a photo of McGinn to his story and said: “King McGinniesta, what a man”.

Despite once being the hometown hero, Grealish splits the opinion of many Villa fans, but he, like other supporters, clearly wants to see the Villans go all the way.

Youri Tielemans deserves his flowers too

Everybody knows how good Youri Tielemans is, but Villa’s forwards have taken all the plaudits for their respective performances against Nottingham Forest.

Though it wasn’t his best game, Tielemans showed the fight and tenacity that was needed in the middle of the park for the whole 90 minutes.

The Belgian won three ground duels, two aerial duels, and had one successful lung-busting run that almost turned into a goal, had he found the right pass.

Tielemans knows what it takes to win a trophy with an English club, so let’s hope he gets what he deserves come May 20.