John McGinn was a happy man after Aston Villa blew away Bologna to reach the UEFA Europa League semi-finals.
The captain and his teammates were on top form in B6, ruthlessly dispatching the Serie A side 4-0 on the night and 7-1 on aggregate.
McGinn was thrilled to have reached the last four, which will be his second European semi-final for the club.
John McGinn.
“It was a brilliant performance, we needed to get the first goal,” he said.
“It was very important because they’re a dangerous team away from home – they’ve shown that over the years.
“To get the first goal and then a great first half gets us into a semi-final. I’m delighted.”
Ollie Watkins tucked away the first of the night, scoring his 100th goal as a Villan in the process.
It was also the perfect start to the game, helping to set the tone for the rest of the match.
McGinn reflected: “They’re a team who come and press you aggressively, so it’s important to pass it forward.
John McGinn.
“Last week we didn’t pass it forward enough; we passed it forward early and scored a great goal.
“I’m delighted for Ollie, it’s a great achievement at a massive club. You could see at the end that he’s delighted.”
Having got the job done in Europe, the Villa skipper quickly switched his focus back to Premier League matters, with a game at home to Sunderland coming on Sunday.
“The manager touched upon that we had to respect Bologna and treat the game as if it was 0-0, but once you get ahead it was about trying to look after ourselves,” he said.
“We’ve got a big game on Sunday and we have an objective in the league to try and make the top five.
“We need to recover now for Sunday.”