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Villa Thumps Forest 4-0, Secures 44-Year Europa Final

5/8/2026

50 4 Full Breakdown

Summary

Villa Wins Semi-final

Aston Villa beat Nottingham Forest 4-0 at Villa Park on May 7, 2026, with Ollie Watkins scoring in the 36th minute after a pass from Emiliano Buendía, to win the Europa League semi-final and lead 4-1 on aggregate.
A penalty by Emiliano Buendía and two goals by captain John McGinn completed the scoring.
Unai Emery will face SC Freiburg in the final on May 20, 2026, in Istanbul, giving Villa its first European final in 44 years.

Summary

Villa Targets Europa

The semifinal streams U.S. on Paramount+ and U.K. on HBO Max and Sony Liv 8 p.m. BST May 7, with Bet365 listing Villa 8/11, Forest 7/2, draw 29/10 and PrizePicks paying 1.69× on Villa.
Villa executive Paul Faulkner said a Europa League win would complete the club’s trophy set, silverware is the 2001 Peace Cup.
Villa are unbeaten at Villa Park (6-0-0); Forest come with a nine-game run and a clean sheet by Stefan Ortega.

History

Historical Context

Aston Villa’s 1982 European Cup win, a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich scored by Peter Withe under manager Tony Barton, marked the sixth consecutive English triumph in the competition. After a 44-year gap, Unai Emery’s Villa thrashed Nottingham Forest 4-0 in the 2026 Europa League semi-final, setting up a first European final since that historic title.

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Villa Wins Semi-final

Aston Villa beat Nottingham Forest 4-0 at Villa Park on May 7, 2026, with Ollie Watkins scoring in the 36th minute after a pass from Emiliano Buendía, to win the Europa League semi-final and lead 4-1 on aggregate.
A penalty by Emiliano Buendía and two goals by captain John McGinn completed the scoring.
Unai Emery will face SC Freiburg in the final on May 20, 2026, in Istanbul, giving Villa its first European final in 44 years.

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