Ollie Watkins spoke of his delight after his double against Liverpool helped Aston Villa secure their spot in the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League.
The striker bagged a brace in the second period at Villa Park on Friday night, as the hosts triumphed 4-2 in their final home outing of the season.
And, after a tricky start to the campaign, Watkins is pleased to be back firing after netting his 18th and 19th goals of the campaign, discussing what makes him so prolific against the Reds having netted eight goals in 12 Premier League games against Liverpool.
Ollie Watkins
Speaking after the match, he said: “I feel like I’m always going to get opportunities against them. That’s no disrespect to them, the two centre-backs are world class, but I spot opportunities (and) spaces in between them.
“When it’s a high line like that, I like to run in behind and create some danger for them.
“For me personally, I had a really slow start to the season, picking up a few niggles on international duty, being left out of the England squad.
“A lot of people had written me off this season and I use that as motivation to show them that I can be back to my best, scoring and helping the team, and I think I’ve showed that for the last few games.
“I’m just taking each game as it comes. Being in a Europa League final is an amazing achievement.
“Everyone’s buzzing at the moment, so we’re going to leave it all out on the pitch on Wednesday night and hopefully we can bring that trophy back here.”
Ollie Watkins
With one game of the league season still to play, Watkins confessed his delight at having secured Champions League football for the second time in three years.
He lauded the team spirit and character to respond to a disappointing start to the campaign and turn Villa’s fortunes.
“An amazing achievement from the boys, what we’ve achieved this season after the start we had,” the 30-year-old added.
“It was a poor start, I don’t think we won in the first six games, hardly scored. We turned it around with some big performances, and it’s amazing to be back in the Champions League.
“To play against the elite teams, it’s the football everyone watches and it’s the competition everyone’s striving to play in, so it’s an amazing achievement from us.”
Ollie Watkins
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