Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest LIVE: Dominant Villa book first Europa League final in four decades | OneFootball

Aston Villa ease past Forest to set up Europa League final against Freiburg

Aston Villa are through to their first European final in 44 years after they thrashed Nottingham Forest 4-0 in the all-English Europa League semi-final to advance 4-1 on aggregate.

Boss Unai Emery is now one win away from a fifth title in a competition he specialises in and only Bundesliga outfit Freiburg stand between Villa and their first major trophy in 30 years.

They came into the second leg trailing to Chris Wood’s penalty last week, but no one knows their way around a Europa League semi-final better than Emery.

His side turned the tie around in style as goals from Ollie Watkins, Emiliano Buendia and John McGinn’s quickfire double earned victory on the night and booked their place in the Istanbul final on May 20.

Flo Clifford8 May 2026 07:00

Aston Villa beat Nottingham Forest

Flo Clifford8 May 2026 06:00

Aston Villa beat Nottingham Forest

Flo Clifford8 May 2026 05:00

Aston Villa beat Nottingham Forest

Flo Clifford8 May 2026 04:00

Aston Villa beat Nottingham Forest

Flo Clifford8 May 2026 03:00

Emi Buendia tells TNT Sports:

Asked about how cool and composed he was taking his penalty, he says: “I took responsibility. It was one of the most decisive penalties for the club in recent years, but I didn’t feel pressure. I felt calm, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.”

It’s put to Watkins that Buendia really created his goal, and the England international heartily agrees: “He put it on a plate for me!”

McGinn continues:

“I’m normally quite calm before games, but today I was nervous. Tonight was up with one of the best performances I’ve seen from a Villa team for a long time.

“I wasn’t nervous in terms of the team turning up. We’ve turned up in big games, maybe just not in big semi-finals.

“The injuries Forest have had maybe helped decide it, but we needed to capitalise – and we did. The atmosphere in here was electric.

“Anything can happen in a game. You can get somebody sent off in the first 10 minutes, first 15. We didn’t want to leave these games with any regrets, and I think we’ve done ourselves massive justice.

“We’ve had low moments, definitely. It’s a demanding club to play for, but when it’s like this, Villa Park is electric. What we’ve done in the last few years is exceptional.

“The margins in football are so slim. If we lose tonight, we’re the nearly men. When we go to Istanbul, we need to make sure we’re not the nearly men.”