Aston Villa vs. Nottingham Forest: Unai Emery's side bidding to extend 32-year streak in Europa League semi-final second leg

By Darren Plant | 06 May 2026 17:30

Aston Villa bidding to extend 32-year streak in Nottingham Forest second leg

Aston Villa can extend a 32-year streak when they play host to Nottingham Forest in the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday night.

Unai Emery's side head into the second leg at Villa Park trailing by a 1-0 deficit on aggregate.

While Villa started the tie as favourites due to their position in the Premier League table, the West Midlands outfit have now lost three matches in a row across all competitions.

In his pre-match press conference, Emery claimed that Nottingham Forest are the favourites to prevail, despite Villa holding home advantage.

However, the statistics suggest that the Spaniard may merely be trying to play mind games with the fellow Midlands outfit.

Aston Villa bidding to extend 32-year streak

Villa boast one of the most impressive European records across the last two seasons, recording as many as nine successive victories at Villa Park.

Not only do Villa boast that incredible run, they have also put together a 10-match unbeaten record against Forest at Villa Park since 1994.

Seven wins and three draws have been posted since a 2-0 reverse in the 1994-95 Premier League campaign.

However, to achieve a place in the final, Villa will need to become the first team since Atletico Madrid against Barcelona in the 2015-16 Champions League quarter-finals to overturn a deficit versus a team from the same nation.

Emery is also looking to extend his own incredible streak, the Spaniard going 22 successive knockout ties without losing both games.

Meanwhile, Villa and Forest have recorded the most clean sheets in this season's Europa League, keeping seven shutouts apiece.