Forest vs Villa: Comparing their European pedigrees, what this semi-final means to today’s fans – and predicting the winner

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European champions from over 40 years ago adds a different slant. Aston Villa, European Cup winners in 1982, and Nottingham Forest, who had triumphed in the same competition in 1979 and 1980, meet in the first leg of a Europa League semi-final at the City Ground tonight (Thursday) before the return leg at Villa Park next week. So what does the game mean for this generation of supporters, how do their European pedigrees compare, and what can we expect from the match today and next Thursday’s return fixture? Our Villa writer, Jacob Tanswell, and his Forest counterpart, Paul Taylor, give their thoughts and predictions. Jacob Tanswell: Forest edge it on paper, with a second European Cup to Villa’s one. Both teams also won the UEFA Super Cup within three years of each other (Forest in 1979, Villa in 1982 — both beating Barcelona). If we are talking present day, it is obviously Villa. Led by a manager who won the Europa League four times with two different clubs (Sevilla, three, and Villarreal) and got to the final with a third (Arsenal) in the space of eight seasons from 2013 to 2021, this is their third successive campaign in the three European competitions. They have completed the set: reaching the semi-finals of the 2023-24 Conference League, then jumping two levels to the quarter-finals of the Champions League last year (losing 5-4 on aggregate to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain), and now aiming to win the Europa League. They have become an experienced and well-rounded unit in terms of navigating tricky two-legged contests and frenzied European atmospheres. A two-leg tie with the decider at Villa Park suits Unai Emery’s customary approach — he will aim to keep his team compact and disciplined in this first leg before making small tweaks and opening up slightly more at home next week. Paul Taylor: Forest’s European story is unlikely to ever be replicated. Having scraped promotion from the Second Division in 1977 (they went up in third place, a point clear of the side who finished fourth), Brian Clough immediately led them to the domestic title — and followed that up by winning back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980. There is a reason the players involved in those years are still known to Forest fans as the Miracle Men. In the space of a few years, Clough changed the dynamic of the club and their city. Forest might have added a third European trophy in six years under him had opponents Anderlecht not bribed the referee for their semi-final in the 1983-84 UEFA Cup (today’s Europa League). In terms of the modern era, though, Forest are rookies at this level, as this is their first season with continental football since Frank Clark — one of the club’s Miracle Men — steered them to the UEFA Cup quarter-finals in 1996. But in Vitor Pereira, they can lean on a coach with European pedigree. He helped Porto win this tournament as an assistant in 2011 and subsequently managed that club in the Champions League. He has also led Porto, Olympiacos and Fenerbahce in the Europa League. Tanswell: It isn’t hyperbole to say the next few weeks are the most critical in Emery’s four-year tenure. He, alongside supporters, will know that the time to win silverware is now. Supporters are desperate for a first major trophy in three decades, and reaching the Europa League final on May 20 would give this Villa side an opportunity to rubber-stamp a period of remarkable progress under the Spaniard. There will be fans who would travel to that match in Istanbul who either went to Rotterdam for the European Cup final in 1982 or had relatives who did. Another European final would bring generations of supporters together and perhaps prove the crescendo to Villa’s rise from Championship play-off winners seven years ago to major players in the Premier League and Europe. Plainly, this is the trophy, and moment, supporters crave. Taylor: There are generations of Forest fans who have only got to hear tales of European adventures under Clough and then Clark second-hand. This season has been an adventure, with thousands descending on Seville and Porto in particular, transforming those cities into a sea of red for a few glorious days. And while many will class Villa (currently fifth in the Premier League to their 16th and having taken four points from the season’s two Premier League meetings) as the favourites, Forest are finding form at the right time. All the chaos of a season that has seen them have four different head coaches and fight an extended battle against relegation would be swept aside if Forest could secure a return to Istanbul (where they beat Fenerbahce 3-0 in February en route to a 4-2 victory in the competition’s first knockout round) for the final. Nobody is ever likely to match the legendary status that Clough achieved in almost 20 years in charge at the City Ground, but taking Forest into their first European final since 1980 would do Pereira’s reputation no harm at all. Tanswell: Emery will insist the Premier League is Villa’s priority, irrespective of league position or how deep they are in other competitions. Yet he will surely make changes domestically if and when Villa have mathematically qualified for the Champions League. They are eight points ahead of sixth-placed Brighton with four league games each left, and should results go their way this weekend, they could secure their spot between these two legs against Forest. This would afford scope to rotate, but Villa tend to conserve energy during games by playing a patient, methodical style, so do not tend to feel the strains of a European schedule as keenly as other teams. If anything, Villa are better when they have midweek fixtures. A week between games can make them appear sluggish and out of rhythm. Emery prefers his players to be battle-hardened and to be involved in matches, rather than just training. Taylor: Surviving in the top flight is the priority — the prospect of Champions League football while in the Championship would be bleak. San Siro on a Wednesday night, followed by Lincoln City’s Sincil Bank on the Saturday, anyone? What last Friday’s 5-0 win away to Sunderland might have done for Pereira is give him just a tiny bit more freedom; the opportunity to go slightly stronger with his team selections in these two games against Villa, either side of a still-vital trip to Chelsea on Monday. Whether he names a full-strength side at the City Ground tonight is still up for debate, but the balancing act between the two competitions has become a little less delicate. Tanswell: Villa have not been free-wheeling in Europe. And, in some ways, that is the secret behind Emery being the most successful manager in this competition’s history. Villa have rarely exerted themselves but largely won comfortably anyway, barring the October aberration of a 2-1 loss away to Go Ahead Eagles of the Netherlands in the league phase. The key cog in all of this, and the player who scored the goal to secure Villa’s first win of the season, which came against Bologna in the Europa League, is John McGinn. His return from two months out injured in the round of 16 against Lille coincided with Villa kicking back into rhythm, and he is usually the man who inspires everything good around him. A tight contest. 1-1. Taylor: Amid the different approaches under Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche and now Pereira, the one constant for Forest in Europe this season has been the importance of Igor Jesus. The injury to Chris Wood in October left the Brazilian to lead the line in these matches most often. While he took time to settle into top-flight English football following a summer move from back home — finding his form impressively in recent weeks — he has generally looked more at home in the Europa League. Forest have scored 23 goals in this competition, and Jesus has seven of them. Wood is back fit now at last, and Jesus has looked even more effective playing off the New Zealand international in recent games. Another closely contested game — and a 2-1 win for Forest on home turf. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms