UEFA Europa League Semi-Final 2nd Leg Preview: Nottingham Forest Hold Edge Against Aston Villa, Braga Chase Final Spot

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.