Nottingham Forest vs. Aston Villa: Unai Emery bidding to equal Manchester City feat in Europa League semi-finals

Aston Villa have the opportunity to equal a feat held by Manchester City when they face Nottingham Forest on Thursday night.

While Unai Emery suggested after Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Fulham that securing a top-five finish in the Premier League table was a priority, Villa are favourites to win this season's Europa League.

They square off against Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Thursday in the first leg of their semi-final tie.

The two teams have already met in a Premier League fixture at the same ground this month, playing out a 1-1 draw.

However, Villa make the short trip to face Vitor Pereira's side with the opportunity to equal an all-time English European feat.

© Imago / Sportimage

What Man City feat can Aston Villa equal?

Villa have incredibly won 11 of their 12 matches in the Europa League this season, only losing on matchday three to Go Ahead Eagles.

Furthermore, they have prevailed in their last nine such encounters, putting them on the brink of equalling Man City's run of 10 victories in a row in Champions League games between May 2023 and March 2024.

With the potential of three Europa League games left on their schedule, Villa also have the opportunity to break the all-time record for European victories in a single season.

That is currently held by Atletico Madrid, who won on 13 occasions during the 2011-12 Europa League.

During that campaign, the La Liga giants won their final 12 games in the competition, their only defeat coming to Udinese during the group stages.

© Imago

Emery bidding to continue remarkable Europa League semi-final streak

Emery will be participating in his seventh Europa League semi-final since 2009-10.

Since losing the first of those with Valencia in 2011-12, to Atletico in their aforementioned history-making run, the Spaniard has emerged victorious from the most recent five such ties.

That has been achieved during spells in charge of Sevilla, Arsenal and Villarreal respectively.