One Goal Down Going In. Four Goals Up Going Out.
Forest won the first leg 1-0. Chris Wood’s penalty. Villa came home needing to overturn a deficit against a side on a seven-game unbeaten league run.
They did it in 90 minutes. 4-0. 4-1 on aggregate. First European final in 44 years.
Istanbul. May 20. SC Freiburg waiting.
The noise at Villa Park at full time needs to be heard to be believed. John McGinn — 31 years old, may never get another chance at this — sprinted toward the Holte End and did not stop.
Buendía Was Unstoppable
Forest could not get near him. Nine touches in the opposition box. Four chances created. One goal, one assist. First player to score and assist in a Europa League semi-final for an English club since Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani for Manchester United in April 2021.
The opener came in the 36th minute. Buendía picked up the ball on the right, weaved between two defenders, got to the byline — nobody expected that, including Forest’s backline — and delayed the cutback. Watkins was already there. Roof of the net. 1-0.
Aggregate level. Villa Park was shaking.
Then the penalty on 58 minutes. Milenkovic fouled Pau Torres. Senseless challenge. Buendía stepped up himself. Composed. Low, left side. Sels guessed right but not quickly enough. 2-0.
Now 2-1 on aggregate. Villa in front.
McGinn in Three Minutes
77th minute. Rogers drove forward, slid it across to McGinn on the edge of the box. McGinn slotted into the near corner. 3-0.
80th minute. Same move. Same player. Same corner. Watkins this time providing the assist — flicked it across — and McGinn was there again. 4-0.
Two goals in three minutes from a captain who had spoken in the dressing room before kick-off about not wasting the opportunity. He was not wasting it.
Fletch on TNT Sports: “Book your plane tickets. Book your hotels. Istanbul here they come.”
He was right.
Forest Were Toothless
They barely laid a glove on Villa across 90 minutes. After the first leg they looked like a team that could manage games, defend deep and punish on the counter. None of that showed up at Villa Park.
Gibbs-White had one moment — tested Martínez from range in the first half. That was about it. Hudson-Odoi could not find space. Anderson, who had been so important in the league run, was anonymous.
The defensive mistakes told the story. Milenkovic’s foul for the penalty was the clearest example — Pau Torres was not even a direct threat in that position. A lapse in concentration. A mistake that cost the tie.
Vitor Pereira’s side had a remarkable run to get here. Four different managers this season. On the verge of relegation in November. Now an all-English semi-final — fought hard and lost. There is something worth acknowledging in that.
But Thursday night belonged to Villa entirely.
Forty-Four Years
The last European final for Aston Villa was 1982. The European Cup final. They won it. Beat Bayern Munich. Nigel Spink in goal. Peter Withe’s winner.
44 years later they are back in Europe. Different competition. Different club in many ways. Same city. Same crest. Same Holte End.
Unai Emery has been here before. More Europa League wins than any manager in history. He stood in the technical area at full time calm as ever. His players were not calm. The whole stadium was not calm.
Freiburg on May 20. Julian Schuster’s side beat Benfica in their semi-final. German opponents in Istanbul. Emery has faced worse.
For more Europa League coverage visit FawaNews football. Full Europa League results, final info and tickets at the official UEFA Europa League website.
Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (Villa win 4-1 on aggregate) UEFA Europa League Semi-Final 2nd Leg | Thursday, 7 May 2026 | Villa Park, Birmingham Referee: Sandro Schärer
Goals: Ollie Watkins 36′ | Emiliano Buendía 58′ pen | John McGinn 77′, 80′
Aston Villa XI: Martínez | Cash, Konsa, Pau Torres, Digne | McGinn, Tielemans | Buendía, Rogers, Ramsey | Watkins Subs: Douglas Luiz (for McGinn), Mings (for Torres), Bailey (for Rogers), Duran (for Watkins)
Nottingham Forest XI: Sels | Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Netz | Anderson, Dominguez | Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Elanga | Wood Subs: Sinclair (for Cunha), Hutchinson (for Elanga)
HT: 1-0 | FT: 4-0 | Aggregate: 4-1
Final: Aston Villa vs SC Freiburg | Wednesday, 20 May 2026 | Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul
