Villa Leverages Past Semi-Final Pain To Tackle Forest In Europa League

Aston Villa visit the City Ground on Thursday for the first leg of a Europa League semi-final against Nottingham Forest, with Unai Emery convinced the squad now understands what is required after recent last-four setbacks in other competitions.

This tie marks the third time Emery has taken Aston Villa into a semi-final since arriving, underlining steady progress. The club previously fell to Olympiacos in the 2023-24 Europa Conference League semi-finals and then exited the FA Cup last season after a last-four defeat to Crystal Palace.

Villa enter the Nottingham Forest clash in strong European form. The team has collected 11 Europa League wins this season, a figure matched or beaten in a single campaign only by Porto in 2010-11 with 12, Atletico Madrid in 2011-12 with 13 and Chelsea in 2018-19 with 12.

Emery’s side also rides a run of nine straight Europa League victories. Among English clubs, the only team to put together a longer winning streak in major European competition is Manchester City, who recorded 10 consecutive wins between May 2023 and March 2024.

This season’s campaign also extends Emery’s personal relationship with the Europa League. The Aston Villa head coach is preparing for a seventh semi-final in the competition since 2009-10; no other manager has appeared in more than three during that period, underlining long-term consistency.

Emery’s first Europa League semi-final ended in defeat with Valencia in 2011-12. Since then, the record has been perfect at this stage. Emery progressed in five straight semi-finals, doing so three times with Sevilla between 2013-14 and 2015-16, before repeating the feat with Arsenal in 2018-19 and Villarreal in 2020-21.

Looking back at Aston Villa’s recent semi-final disappointments, Emery stresses that the squad now has a stronger base. In the 2023-24 loss to Olympiacos, Aston Villa were also chasing a top-four Premier League finish, and Emery felt the team ended that season fatigued and carrying injuries.

Emery said: "Different competitions, different circumstances. The semi-final against Olympiacos two years ago, we lost, but we were also in the Premier League fighting to finish fourth. We finished that season tired and with some injuries. We lost, we accepted it, and it was a process we went through at that moment. Last year, we played the FA Cup semi-final and went to Wembley. It was my first experience of a semi-final at Wembley in the FA Cup. We lost against Crystal Palace - another experience. But they were two different situations: against Olympiacos it was over two legs, and against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup it was 90 minutes. We are going to use those experiences to do better this time."

Aston Villa Europa League tie and Aston Villa Europa League opponents

Nottingham Forest reach this semi-final after closely fought ties in the previous rounds. Forest eliminated Porto and then Midtjylland, competing strongly in both contests. Emery highlights those performances as evidence that Aston Villa cannot afford any drop in focus across either leg.

Assessing what awaits at the City Ground and beyond, Emery said: "I expect a difficult match and a very intelligent match. We must play intelligently and try to enjoy it too - we must enjoy the preparation, the match itself, after the match, and the days between the legs. In the Europa League, the way they are playing is very competitive. In the last two rounds against Porto and Midtjylland, they competed fantastically, even with tight results."

Aston Villa carry strong Europa League statistics, an in-form squad and a coach with a deep history in this competition into the Nottingham Forest tie, while the memory of semi-final defeats against Olympiacos and Crystal Palace provides a clear reference point for what must improve across these two legs.