Europa League semi-final don reach hot stage as Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa go dey battle for first leg for City Ground. Dis one na big chance for both clubs to reach final for Istanbul, and the tension dey high.
Forest, wey win European Cup two times for 1979 and 1980, don fight relegation all season. Dem don change manager four times since September, but now Vitor Pereira dey lead dem for dis historic run. Dem beat Porto for quarter-final and now dem face fellow Premier League side Villa.
Aston Villa, wey win European Cup for 1982, dey near top five for Premier League and don qualify for Champions League next season. But dem show some weakness for second half of season. Unai Emery, wey win Europa League four times, dey hope to use im experience to guide Villa to final.
For Forest, striker Igor Jesus be the Europa League joint top scorer with seven goals. Dem sign am for £10m from Botafogo last summer, and former Botafogo boss Renato Paiva call am bargain of the season. Jesus don score 15 goals overall.
Forest also get Morgan Gibbs-White, wey don score six goals for last four games. But dem go miss Murillo and Jair Cunha for defence. Villa get Ollie Watkins, wey don score six for last six games, and Amadou Onana wey return from injury.
Di match go be tight. Both teams don play 1-1 draw for Premier League earlier this month. Forest dey unbeaten for last ten games, while Villa win 11 of 12 Europa League matches dis season. Di winner go face Braga or Freiburg for final.
Forest fans dey hope to see dia team reach final after long time. Two-time European Cup winner Garry Birtles tok say: “E dey fantastic for Nottingham to see dia team for semi-final. E be long time since we dey there.”
But Villa get experience for dis competition. Emery don win Europa League four times and lose one final. He say dem go use past semi-final losses to motivate dem. Di match go be tough, but both sides dey ready for battle.
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