Key events
19 min: McGinn sends away Rogers with a backheel,.and Morato can do nothing but accept a yellow card. The resultant free-kick sees Tielemans smash the ball for Matty Cash – always full name – but it slides out of play.
18 min: Villa are pushing the hardest, as you might expect.
Freiburg lead the other tie 1-0 against ten-man Braga, that tie is 2-2.
16 min: Andy Coupe: “Last Forest semi final at Villa Park was a 4-0 win against West Ham, I’m going for the same tonight.”
1991? Remember the Hammers fans that day? Some of them were, er, high on something other than life. Was like a rave in the stands.
14 min: Hasan gets in touch: “I must confess, “gubbed” is a new one for me, and I thought I’d heard them all. I’m from the generation where getting “mullered” was what the cool kids would say – and I thought I was cool enough to join in with the generation after who talked about getting “pwned” but I quicky learnt that wasn’t the case. Now I’m old enough to laugh at it all and say “six seven” to colleagues with unflinching irony – and yet, sadly, I’m still too young to remember the last time my beloved Forest were in a European semi-final. Come on you reds, make a middle aged man happy today.”
I too am too young, though vaguely remember the outrage of 1984 with Anderlecht.
12 min: Villa go close, Pau Torres nodding a corner over, and Ortega tipping over. Both teams at it. Jesus concedes what is a third corner in succession. The next one is a scramble after Ortega’s punch is unconvincing. It’s cleared by Morato.
Will Unwin
11 min: From me old mate, Will Unwin.
The billowing blue flare smoke is providing the aroma around Villa Park. The home players were welcomed with a raucous atmosphere and one the first whistle goes, things will ramp up a notch. There are reminders all round of the 1982 European Cup triumph and the club are desperate to get back to another continental final. Sunday’s defeat to Tottenham brought the ire of many Villa supporters but that will be soon forgotten if they level early on.
For Forest, they will be aiming to keep things quiet for long as possible to boost the angst around the place. Without Morgan Gibbs-White in the starting lineup it will be fascinating to see how James McAtee does in his place from the left. He has a similar style to the club captain but is yet to set things alight in Nottingham. If he can turn it on tonight, he will become an instant legend.
10 min: Close, closest so far. McAtee, standing in for Gibbs-White, plays a lovely pass and Hutchinson smashes just wide. It was flying in, and Dibu Martinez was unlikely to get to it.
8 min: Paedar de Burca gets in touch: “I’m not a fan of either team but I’m from Galway and one of our city’s great football heroes was Eamon “Chick” Deacy, Villa’s supersub back when they were champions of England and Europe in 81/82. There isn’t a footie fan in Galway who doesn’t think of Chick when Villa has a big night. Sadly, he left this world in 2012, aged 53, still playing for his local team West United, scalping the shins off fellas half his age. A true gent who worked in his brother’s fruit and veg shop and got embarrassed if anyone brought up the part he played in knocking the mighty Liverpool team off their perch.”
Villa used what, 14 players all season in 1980-81?
7 min: Boos whenever the Forest players gain possession. Jeers whenever they lose it. These end of season games really do get lifted by the fans. It’s been a long winter. Now to let it all out.
5 min: It’s raucous, it’s ragged. Huge cheers when a tackle flies in.
In the other semi-final, between Braga and Freiburg, the Portuguese team have had a man sent off; Mario Dorgeles. Braga are leading that tie 2-1 at present.
4 min: Villa have a free-kick, right of the box. McGinn floats one and Konsa is so close to getting a touch. Jair Cunha emergency right-back had a hold, but not enough of a hold.
3 min: Some high pressing from Forest and it almost forces a chance for Igor Jesus. So, where is Lindelof playing? It’s as a holding midfielder, meaning it’s four at the back for Villa.
2 min: Neco Williams has to come across to stop Ollie Watkins. On the sideline, Unai Emery is pensive, not quite in jack in the box mode.
Away we go at Villa Park
1 min: Huge noise as they kick off. Villa take it, and go on the attack, the crowd gets even louder as McGinn sets off on a run. Goal kick to Forest.
There’s a tifo, too, and it seems to be a composite of Unai and his men in a heart, with a lion’s face. Evocative. Better than Bayern’s or Arsenal’s?
Jeff Beck is pumping out at Villa Park. Very popular in the West Midlands was Hi Ho Silver Lining; Rod Stewart on backing vocals, John Paul Jones on bass. Anyway, let’s rock. Captains John McGinn and Chris Wood lead out their teams.
It’s noisy at Villa Park, very noisy. The team bus got the now requisite pyro welcome. Villa fans have enjoyed their club being back in Europe over the last two seasons.
Emery on Lindelof: “Lindelof is not a goalkeeper.”
Helpful, we’re soon to find out.
We’re still in the dark over where Lindelof will play. Unai Emery was curt with TNT: “McGinn, he is important like every player, he is the captian, his connection with the supporters is massive.We must get out best collectively and best individually, John McGinn is very important in this message.”
More Pereira: “Enjoy the game, compete first minute to last minute, be brave, to try to force our game and in the end we will see.He [Gibbs-White] is here to help us, we will see what happens in the game. They need to be ready, this is a moment of the season we need to help the team, I have confidence in everyone, we can change the players but we keep the spirit.In our mind we come here to compete to win the game.”
Vitor Pereira spoke to TNT about Morgan Gibbs-White: “He’s here to help us. We will see. We will see what happens in the game.”
Is Victor Lindelof to play in a back three or midfield for Villa? John McGinn and Emi Buendia come in with Ollie Watkins and Lucas Digne.
Elliot Anderson is back in the Forest starting lineup as one of eight changes from the team that gubbed Chelsea.
The big team news is Morgan Gibbs-White being only ready enough to start the evening on the Forest bench after that horrible cut he received at Stamford Bridge. It required 11 stitches.
The teams
Aston Villa: Martinez, Lindelof, Konsa, Torres, Cash, McGinn, Buendia, Tielemans, Digne, Watkins, Rogers. Subs: Bizot, Wright, Mings, Elliott, Garcia, Abraham, Sancho, Douglas Luiz, Maatsen, Bogarde, Bailey.
Nottm Forest: Ortega, Jair Cunha, Milenkovic, Morato, Williams, Hutchinson, Dominguez, Anderson, McAtee, Igor Jesus, Wood. Subs: Sels, Willows, Murillo, Sangare, Gibbs-White, Ndoye, Lucca, Yates, Bakwa, Whitehall, Sinclair, Hanks.
Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
Will Unwin on Vitor Pereira, fourth time lucky for Forest.
Dyche did what he had to, settling things down after a tumultuous start to the season, whereas Pereira wanted to offer greater freedom. Forest are the highest scorers in the league since his arrival, with 19 in nine matches, and have the third-best defence and would sit sixth over the period, according to Goalpoint. Under Pereira, Forest have scored 8.02 goals above xG, arguably a result of the increase in confidence and risk-taking.
Last time out in the Premier League:
The first leg:
Preamble
Nottingham Forest have the advantage but it’s a narrow one. Can Aston Villa overturn it? Their form last week at the City Ground, and in losing to Tottenham last Sunday, has slumped. Just at the wrong time? We’re about to find out. Forest meanwhile have thundered into form, and the stattos will tell you they are hugely outperforming their xG. Though didn’t that used to be said about the Villa? By midnight – hopefully not that late – we will know who will be heading to Istanbul for the final.
Kick-off at 8pm. Join me.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2026/may/07/aston-villa-v-nottingham-forest-europa-league-semi-final-second-leg-live
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