05/07/26 03:30:00
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05/07 03:25 CDT Nottingham Forest takes a 1-0 lead to Aston Villa in Europa
League semifinal
Nottingham Forest takes a 1-0 lead to Aston Villa in Europa League semifinal
BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) --- Nottingham Forest makes a short trip to Birmingham
with a 1-0 advantage against Aston Villa in the second leg of their Europa
League semifinal on Thursday.
Both clubs hope to contest their first European final in decades.
For Nottingham, it has been 46 years. The relegation-threatened Premier League
club won the European Cup, the precursor to the Champions League, under the
great Brian Clough in 1979 and 1980.
Forest has been unbeaten in its last 10 games in all competitions but it
remains unclear if key attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White will play after
suffering a facial injury on Monday in a 3-1 win against Chelsea in the Premier
League.
Villa, the European champion in 1982, has reached its second semifinal in
Europe in three seasons. It sits fifth in the English top flight and stands a
good chance of qualifying for the Champions League again after advancing to the
quarterfinals last season.
Villa needs to snap a three-game losing streak at Villa Park to progress.
In the other semifinal, the Bundesliga's Freiburg needs to overturn a one-goal
deficit from a 2-1 defeat to Braga in the opening leg in Portugal.
Freiburg has enjoyed its best European campaign while Braga hopes to advance to
the final again after it lost to domestic rival Porto 1-0 in 2011.
The final is in Istanbul on May 20.
In the third-tier Conference League, Crystal Palace is in control of its
semifinal against Shakhtar Donetsk after winning 3-1 in the Ukrainian team's
exile in Krakow, Poland, last week.
If Palace advances in its maiden European campaign, English clubs will compete
in all three European finals.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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