Europa League semi-final first leg: Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa facts
Thursday, April 23, 2026
Article body
Two former European champions meet in an all-English UEFA Europa League semi-final as Nottingham Forest welcome Aston Villa to the City Ground for the first leg.
Forest reached their first European semi-final for 42 years courtesy of a 2-1 win over Porto in the quarter-finals (1-1 a, 1-0 h) having prevailed on penalties after their round of 16 tie with Midtjylland had finished 2-2 on aggregate (0-1 h, 2-1 a aet, 3-0 pens). They had defeated Fenerbahçe 4-2 in the knockout phase play-offs (3-0 a, 1-2 h) after a 13th-place finish in the league phase that yielded 14 points.
Villa are featuring in a second European semi-final in three years thanks to a 7-1 two-legged defeat of Bologna in the last eight (3-1 a, 4-0 h). They had secured a 3-0 aggregate victory against LOSC Lille in the round of 16 (1-0 a, 2-0 h), having won seven of their eight matches in the league phase (L1), finishing second on 21 points.
Last match
This is the maiden European meeting between the teams and Villa's first continental contest against opponents from their own country.
They have already faced each other twice in the Premier League in 2026. Villa were 3-1 winners at Villa Park on 3 January when a John McGinn double followed Ollie Watkins' opener, Morgan Gibbs-White registering Forest's only reply. It was 1-1 in the reverse fixture at the City Ground on 12 April; Villa went ahead through a Murillo own goal but Neco Williams' reply secured a draw.
The last knockout tie between the two sides ended in a 1-0 away Villa victory win in the 1995/96 FA Cup quarter-finals.
Nottingham Forest began their triumphant 1978/79 European Cup campaign with a 2-0 first-round aggregate success against Liverpool – Garry Birtles and Colin Barrett getting the goals at the City Ground before a goalless draw at Anfield – in their only previous UEFA encounters with an English club.
This is Forest's first season in UEFA competition for 30 years, with their last entry – the 1995/96 UEFA Cup – concluding with a 2-7 aggregate quarter-final defeat against eventual winners Bayern München. They are appearing in their first European semi‑final since the 1983/84 UEFA Cup, when they lost 2-3 on aggregate to Anderlecht (2-0 h, 0-3 a).
Back-to-back European Cup winners in 1978/79 (1-0 vs Malmö) and 1979/80 (1-0 vs Hamburg), Forest also claimed the UEFA Super Cup in 1979 with a 2-1 aggregate defeat of Barcelona (1-0 h, 1-1 a).
Quarter-finalists in the Champions League last season, Villa are involved in European competition for a third straight campaign, having reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Conference League in 2023/24.
European Cup winners in 1982, Villa also triumphed in the UEFA Super Cup the same year.
The 2025/26 campaign represents Villa's first participation in the Europa League proper, and this is also their first UEFA Cup/Europa League semi‑final. They are the 14th different English club to reach this stage across both eras of the competition.
Key stats
This is the first all‑English European semi‑final since the 2008/09 Champions League, when Manchester United defeated Arsenal 4-1 on aggregate. No two English clubs have met in the semi‑finals during the Europa League era; the only all‑English UEFA Cup last-four tie came in 1972/73, when Liverpool beat Tottenham on away goals.
Nottingham Forest have won two of their three previous European semi‑finals. Their most recent success came in the 1979/80 European Cup, a 2-1 aggregate win against Ajax (2-0 h, 0-1 a).
Forest have won four of their last six Europa League home matches (L2), keeping clean sheets in each of those four victories.
The Nottingham club have lost only three of their last 12 Europa League matches (W7 D2).
Aston Villa have won 15 of their last 17 European matches (L2), including their most recent nine — the longest winning streak in the club's UEFA history and an English record in the Europa League proper, surpassing the previous best of eight set by Chelsea between 2013 and 2018.
Villa's Unai Emery is in his seventh Europa League semi‑final as a coach and has won five ties in a row since losing in the 2011/12 semi‑finals with Valencia.
Watkins has scored four goals in Villa's four knockout matches.