Credit: Imago
Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa will play the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final ties on Thursday.
Both Premier League teams will travel for their opening legs, with the return legs in England set to take place next week.
Nottingham Forest will take on Liga Portugal leaders FC Porto, while Villa will play Italian side Bologna.
Interestingly, both clashes have already taken place this season in the group stage, with the Premier League side coming out on top in both cases.
Nottingham Forest’s season has developed drastically since then, however, with the battle for safety having taken on much more prominence.
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Europa League kick-off times
Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider last week that Europa League success would be financially key for Nottingham Forest, ahead of a significant dip in Premier League revenue.
The Tricky Trees finished seventh last season and are set for a massive dent to their financial intake, even if they stay up.
| Nottingham Forest 2025-26 (so far) | Premier League | Nottingham Forest 2024-25 |
| 32 | Points | 65 |
| 8 | Wins | 19 |
| 8 | Draws | 8 |
| 15 | Losses | 11 |
| 31 | Scored | 58 |
| 43 | Conceded | 46 |
Relegation would be even more catastrophic for Nottingham Forest, who would surely be forced into the sale of several key players.
Success in the Europa League would bring both prize money and the financial benefit that comes with qualifying for the Champions League, which would be huge at the City Ground.
The same can be said of Villa, who have been battling against the restrictions of the profit and sustainability rules for the last few transfer windows.
Both games are set to kick off at 20:00 BST on Thursday night.
How to watch Europa League clashes
Every step Nottingham Forest take forward from here will be history. The 1995-96 UEFA Cup quarter-final was previously the furthest the club had gone, when they went out to Bayern Munich.
It’s a similar story for Villa, who reached the quarter-finals in 1977-78 and 1997-98, but have not returned until now.
They do have Europa League expert Unai Emery on their side, however, with the Spaniard looking to win the trophy for the fifth time.
Nottingham Forest’s game can be watched live on TNT Sports 1, while Villa will be on TNT Sports 2.
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