SOCCER: Villa aim to bury semi-final pain in all-English Europa League clash v Forest

Aston Villa manager Aston Villa boss Unai Emery said his team will draw strength from past semi-final disappointments as they prepare to face Nottingham Forest in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League semifinal on Thursday.

Emery, who has experienced two semi-final defeats since arriving at Villa in 2022, believes those setbacks have helped shape the squad’s resilience rather than weigh them down.

Villa were eliminated by Greek side Olympiacos in the 2024 Europa Conference League semifinals and later fell to Crystal Palace in last season’s FA Cup semifinal at Wembley.

“Different competitions, different circumstances,” Emery said on Wednesday. “Against Olympiacos, it was over two legs while in the FA Cup it was a single match. We lost both, but those are experiences we learned from.”

He added that those moments came during demanding periods for the squad, including a congested schedule and injury concerns, but insisted the lessons remain valuable heading into another crucial European tie.

“We accept what happened and we grow from it,” Emery said. “We are going to use those experiences to do better this time.”

Emery is highly regarded in European competition, having won the Europa League three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal during the 2020–21 campaign.

Villa enter the semifinal sitting fifth in the Premier League with 58 points and four matches remaining. However, their away form remains inconsistent, with just one win in their last eight league matches on the road.

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest, managed by Vitor Pereira, are 16th in the table with 39 points as they continue their fight to avoid relegation. Despite their position, Forest head into the semifinal in strong form, unbeaten in six league matches and boosted by a 5–0 win over Sunderland last Friday.

“It will be good energy,” Pereira said. “What I ask every time is good energy in training and matches. With positive spirit, we can achieve results and be proud in the end.”

-Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis/Reuters