Europa League: Two Premier League representatives meet in the semifinals

The Europa League quarter-finals concluded with two Premier League clubs, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, securing advancement. However, these two teams will face each other in the semifinals.

Aston Villa advances to the Europa League semifinals

With a 3-1 lead from the first leg of the quarter-finals, Unai Emery's Aston Villa easily overwhelmed Bologna with a 4-0 victory in the second leg at Villa Park.

This marks Villa's second appearance in a European cup semifinal under Emery, following their participation in the Conference League's final four in 2024. A specialist in the Europa League, Emery has won the tournament four times (three with Sevilla, one with Villarreal) and once finished as runner-up with Arsenal.

Ollie Watkins, who scored twice in the first leg in Italy, opened the scoring in the 16th minute for the English side.

Morgan Rogers missed a penalty for Aston Villa in the 25th minute, but just one minute later, Emiliano Buendia doubled the lead to 2-0.

In the 39th minute, Rogers redeemed himself by scoring his first goal in 12 matches with a powerful strike that beat goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia at the near post. Ezri Konsa's volley in the 89th minute concluded the dominant performance by the Villa Park hosts. Overall, Aston Villa won 4-0 and advanced with a 7-1 aggregate score.

Nottingham Forest defeats Porto

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest, a team currently 12 places below Villa in the Premier League, defeated Porto's ten-man squad with a 1-0 victory in the quarter-final second leg, thereby securing a 2-1 aggregate win after two matches.

Porto defender Jan Bednarek was sent off in the 8th minute after a malicious studs-up challenge on Chris Wood's knee, forcing the New Zealand striker to limp off the field.

Nottingham Forest quickly capitalized on their numerical advantage. In the 12th minute, Morgan Gibbs-White's shot from the edge of the penalty area deflected off a player, looped high into the net, leaving the goalkeeper helpless.

Despite playing with an extra man, Forest also had heart-stopping moments when Porto's William Gomes shot from close range hit the post in the second half, and they were fortunate again when Alan Varela's effort found the crossbar in the closing minutes.

In other developments, Freiburg reached the Europa League semifinals for the first time after a 3-1 victory over Celta Vigo. Having won 3-0 in the first leg in Germany, Julian Schuster's team completed their task away to secure a 6-1 aggregate win.

Freiburg's opponent in the semifinals will be Sporting Braga, who overturned a deficit to defeat Real Betis 4-2 (winning 5-3 on aggregate).

According to the semifinal draw results, Nottingham Forest will face Aston Villa, while the other matchup is Braga versus Freiburg. The first-leg semifinal matches will take place on April 30, and the second legs will be on May 7.

Football results for the UEFA Cup

Aston Villa 4–0 Bologna

Real Betis 2–4 Braga

Nottingham Forest 1–0 FC Porto

Celta Vigo 1–3 Freiburg