Aston Villa produced a swashbuckling display to defeat Nottingham Forest in last night’s Europa League semi-final second leg – and Emi Buendía was pivotal to their performance.
The Villans are heading to Istanbul after romping to a 4-1 aggregate victory over Vítor Pereira’s side, with their Argentine winger at the centre of a four-goal turnaround at Villa Park.
His sumptuous assist for Ollie Watkins’ opener set the Midlands outfit en route to a convincing triumph, before the 29-year-old converted a second-half penalty and played a part in John McGinn’s final goal of the night.
Villa’s comeback reflected Buendía’s own journey, too, capping a return from the brink after his time at the club looked to be reaching its conclusion last summer.
A surprising season
Unai Emery’s decision to retain Buendía for the current campaign certainly raised a few eyebrows.
After all, Aston Villa’s No.10 had missed the entirety of the 2023/24 season with a knee injury, prior to spending the back end of last term on loan at Bayer Leverkusen.
A need to comply with Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) during the summer only added to a sense that Buendía could have played his final match in B6 – but the transfer window ultimately closed without any news of a departure.
That has proven to be a wise call, following a year in which the Mar del Plata native has reminded supporters of the qualities he possesses.
A total of 50 appearances across all competitions to date is already a career-best tally, reflecting Buendía’s increased durability and fine form in 2025/26.
If we look exclusively at the Premier League, his six goals and two assists over 33 games means he is averaging a commendable 0.45 goal contributions per 90 minutes of action – in addition to a further four goals and six assists during 17 domestic and continental cup matches.
And with Buendía featuring on the left flank for the majority of the season, his all-round impact becomes evident when we draw comparisons with his fellow top-flight wingers.
He ranks in the top ten wingers for league goals from open play (5), for example, but it is his off-the-ball work that really catches the eye.
Only four Premier League wingers have made more tackles than his 40 so far this season, while he ranks eighth for possession regains in the defensive third (42).
With creativity in attack and a diligent attitude to defensive responsibilities, it is perhaps little wonder that Buendía has emerged as a favoured option for Emery over the past nine months.
Peaking at Villa Park
Buendía’s full range of attacking attributes were evident during Thursday night’s Europa League semi-final second leg triumph.
His headline-grabbing moment was undoubtedly a jinking run past Jair Cunha and Elliot Anderson with 35 minutes on the clock, before drilling in a low cross for Watkins to break the deadlock.
But it was another Buendía delivery – this time from the right-hand side – that resulted in Pau Torres being fouled for a second-half penalty, which the Argentina international coolly dispatched into the bottom-left corner.
A flicked pass on the stretch to Lamare Bogarde later kickstarted the move that led to McGinn’s second and Villa’s fourth goal, solidifying Buendía’s game-changing impact against a flailing Forest side.
No player had more shots in the match than the former Norwich City man (5), while he also topped the charts for chances (4) and big chances (2) created.
In fact, Buendía was looking to make something happen whenever the ball was at his feet – whether driving play forward with incisive dribbles or playing passes into his attacking team-mates.
That is reflected in the numbers, with Buendía posting joint-highest totals of attempted (3) and completed (2) take-ons.
Meanwhile, only Youri Tielemans attempted and completed more passes into the final third than the 5ft 8in winger, who was successful with 10 of his 13 balls into the danger zone.
This was unquestionably a statement performance from Buendía – and a measure of how far he has progressed since being on the fringes of the first-team last season.
Back on track
This recent renaissance could be viewed as a peak in Buendía’s Aston Villa career, but in reality it is more of a return to the form he showed prior to suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in August 2023. His 2022/23 campaign delivered a roughly comparable return to this season in five league strikes and two assists, though he may well add further goal contributions this month, of course.
However, in some respects Buendía was making an even greater mark during Emery’s maiden season in the Midlands.
Looking exclusively at the Premier League, he created notably more big chances per 90 for example (0.3 vs 0.17) and completed a far greater percentage of his attempted take-ons (52% vs 32%).
But it is also fair to say that his game has evolved to a degree, with an increased confidence to take more shots resulting in 2.58 efforts on goal per 90 – versus 1.82 per 90 in 2022/23.
He is making a greater number of tackles now, too (2.3 vs 1.9 per 90), and appears to be a more combative presence in the middle of the park.
These are only minor tweaks, but they are certainly yielding results for an Aston Villa side that are within touching distance of Champions League qualification and stand on the precipice of European glory.
A top-five finish could be secured this weekend against Burnley depending on other results, while Bundesliga outfit Freiburg lie in wait when Istanbul’s Tüpraş Stadyumu hosts the Europa League final on Wednesday 20th May.
With Buendía shining brightly as the season reaches its climax, don’t rule out more decisive moments from the Villans’ rejuvenated star in the weeks ahead.
