Villa's Europa final 'a hell of an achievement'

Reaching the final of the Europa League was a "hell of an achievement" for Aston Villa, according to former player Colin Gibson, who said he saw no reason why the team could not go on to win.

Gibson, who lives in Worcester, was part of the Aston Villa squad that won the European Cup in 1982.

Unai Emery's side will play in their first European final in 44 years on Wednesday evening, when they take on Germany's Freiburg in Istanbul.

Gibson, who made 185 appearances for Villa, said it would be a "tough game," but the team had played "incredibly well" throughout the tournament.

"If you look at their performances, there's absolutely no reason why they can't win tonight," he said.

Villa could take home their first major silverware for three decades.

Gibson, who has also played for Manchester United and Walsall, said there was always pressure and nerves during big games.

"It's your team-mates, you don't want to let anybody down, you want to play well," he said.

The defender also praised Villa boss Emery and said his eye for detail was "absolutely astonishing".

"There are many, many managers that have been brilliant for Aston Villa," he said, "but I tell you what, I've not seen a better manager [there] has been before than this manager.

"They play to their strengths, the manager knows."

Speaking of the club's European win against Bayern Munich in 1982, he told BBC Hereford and Worcester he accidentally "lost" the cup for a short time following the achievement.

"When we won the European cup, the club allowed us to take it out to supporters clubs. And we went to a supporters club in Lichfield and it got put it on the bar."

But when they turned around "the European Cup had gone", Gibson said.

"We sort of went 'what are we going to do?'

"We actually found out who it was eventually and we got it back," he added.

"It was probably about an hour or two. I thought 'what's going to happen?', and I thought I was going to be absolutely hung drawn and quartered."

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