Departures of club legend and star players have not stopped modest German side reaching showpiece with Aston Villa

It’s about the journey, perhaps even more than the destination. That is the feeling of SC Freiburg before the biggest match in their history. Regardless of the result in Wednesday’s Europa League final against Aston Villa in Istanbul, the club will be present at a reception in the city on their Thursday return to acknowledge the moment and the compelling season that has taken them there.

There are many extraordinary elements to a club that have never won a major trophy – the closest they came was losing on penalties to RB Leipzig in the 2022 DFB Pokal final – arriving at such a showpiece, but for most in Germany the true wonder is that they have managed it without Christian Streich. The longest-serving coach in the Bundesliga stood down in 2024 having served Freiburg continuously in several roles for almost three decades, including as the first team’s head coach for the final 12 and a half.

John McGinn will lead out team in final against Freiburg seven years after helping them win promotion with club chasing a first major European trophy since 1982

As Aston Villa arrived at Besiktas Park on the banks of the Bosphorus, for one last training session before the real thing, it was impossible not to consider the journey to the Europa League final. John McGinn, who will lead Villa out as captain in Istanbul, was in the side promoted from the Championship via the playoff final seven years ago. Tyrone Mings also started that day at Wembley and across the course of the following 12 months Villa built a spine that will be central to their hopes of winning their first major European trophy since 1982.

It is why McGinn’s mind goes back to a 3-0 league defeat at Wigan and a midweek trip to Rotherham in the season they clinched promotion, averting a likely financial disaster. Tammy Abraham, then on loan from Chelsea, also began the playoff final victory over Derby. “If we lose that match, are Aston Villa here at the minute?” McGinn says. “Probably not. For us, tomorrow night, it will be nice to see the supporters who were there at Rotherham away, Wigan away, nights like that on a Tuesday evening when it’s very easy to stay at home. They deserve it just as much as the players do and hopefully we can give them something to remember.”

Aston Villa and Crystal Palace’s runs to European finals are historic achievements, but symptomatic of a worrying trend

There will be no doubting Unai Emery’s supremacy in the Europa League if he is reacquainted with the trophy in Istanbul this month. A fifth title would add to the Aston Villa manager’s legend and it would show he can do it with an English club. The latter achievement, though, may be diminished in value. A greater concern lies in the way that Premier League clubs, gradually but discernibly, are dominating Europe’s smaller competitions in a way Uefa surely could never have intended.

Villa will be the eighth English finalists from the last 22 teams to reach the Europa League’s showpiece. Should they win, it would be the first time since the first two years of the Uefa Cup, its predecessor with the same trophy, that sides from England have won the secondary tournament in consecutive seasons. They would build on Tottenham’s haphazard triumph of last May and while neither consistency nor relative excellence should be sniffed at their progress contributes to a concerning broader trend.

In the end, it was a rout, Aston Villa sailing into their first European final since 1982. There were fist pumps from Prince William high in the Trinity Road Stand after Emiliano Buendía’s penalty approaching the hour put Villa in command of the tie and then pure delirium as John McGinn buried two near-identical first-time finishes inside three minutes to kill the game. In between serenading Unai Emery, who is hunting a record fifth Europa League title, and drinking in the celebrations, Villa supporters could think about booking flights to Istanbul, where Villa will face Freiburg in search of their first trophy since lifting the League Cup in 1996.

As Vítor Pereira had acknowledged, Emery is the undisputed king of the Europa League and Villa will be heavy favourites in Turkey against a team seventh in the Bundesliga. “You can start packing your bags, start looking for your tickets,” was the message from the giddy stadium announcer on what descended into a rather surreal night, an emotional McGinn wearing a look disbelief as he charged off after adding Villa’s third, the cue for the stewards to line the pitch. McGinn’s second and Villa’s fourth prompted the away end to empty.

John McGinn’s two goals confirmed Villa’s comeback win as they overpowered Forest to reach the final in Istanbul

We’re still in the dark over where Lindelof will play. Unai Emery was curt with TNT: “McGinn, he is important like every player, he is the captian, his connection with the supporters is massive.We must get out best collectively and best individually, John McGinn is very important in this message.”

More Pereira: “Enjoy the game, compete first minute to last minute, be brave, to try to force our game and in the end we will see.He [Gibbs-White] is here to help us, we will see what happens in the game. They need to be ready, this is a moment of the season we need to help the team, I have confidence in everyone, we can change the players but we keep the spirit.In our mind we come here to compete to win the game.”

• Villa manager says Watkins’ ankle could have been broken

• Vítor Pereira hails ‘the spirit of this team’ as Forest win 1-0

Unai Emery raged at the video assistant referee for failing to flag Elliot Anderson’s dangerous first-half tackle on Ollie Watkins in defeat at Nottingham Forest and claimed the England striker was fortunate to avoid a broken ankle. Villa’s manager said the Portuguese VAR, Tiago Martins, made a “huge mistake” by not alerting the referee, João Pinheiro, to the incident.

Forest prevailed 1-0 in the Europa League first leg at the City Ground courtesy of a 71st-minute Chris Wood penalty, awarded after a VAR review ruled the ball was in play when Lucas Digne handled Omari Hutchinson’s cross inside the box, but Villa were left incandescent about Anderson’s challenge. The referee waved play on when Anderson caught Watkins on his ankle before claiming the ball and the VAR did not intervene. Emery admitted he did not realise the seriousness of the incident until reviewing footage of the tackle after the match.

⚽ Europa League semi-final updates, 8pm BST kick-off
⚽ Shakhtar v Palace – live | Latest scores | Mail Daniel

An affirming feature of Cup competitions is getting to enjoy clubs, players, managers and supporters enjoying and detesting their biggest game in generations. But what is much rarer is to have two teams, from neighbouring regions, competing against each other in a contest which means that much to both, and is vitally important in its own right.

The specific dynamics of our match this evening are also special. Villa are the superior team, fifth in the league having spent much of the campaign higher – there was, briefly, talk of a title challenge – but they’ve struggled in recent months and arrive at this evening in spotty form. Forest, meanwhile, are the inferior team, 16th in the league having spent much of the campaign lower – there is, still, talk of a relegation battle – but they’ve improved in recent weeks and arrive at this evening in top form.

⚽ Fixtures | Latest tables | Premier League top scorers
⚽ Premier League: 10 things to look out for | Mail Taha

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has been speaking ahead of Sunday’s Merseyside derby. Here he is on Hugo Ekitike’s Achilles tendon injury which has ruled the Frenchman out for the rest of the season and this summer’s World Cup.

He hasn’t been operated on yet. Devastating for him coming to a new club having so much impact straight away. Playing against your former club in the Champions League quarter-final with so much to come for him in the summer.

My first thoughts are with him being out for such a long time, missing out on so many special moments. But it is not the first and not the last player who experienced something like this at the start of their career, and there are so many examples of players coming back even stronger.

The final whistle brought a second of relief before the celebrations truly kicked in after Nottingham Forest secured a place in the Europa League semi-finals. It should have been easier but nothing is simple at the City Ground as they made hard work of overcoming Porto, who played almost the entire match with 10 men.

Morgan Gibbs-White settled the match, to set up an all-English clash with Aston Villa for a place in the final. His goal came in the aftermath of Jan Bednarek’s early sending off and should have laid the foundations for more but Forest’s finishing was poor, forcing them to grind out the victory by surviving Porto hitting the crossbar twice. Even so, the ultimate jubilation was reminiscent of those great nights of the 1980s under Brian Clough when the club last reached this stage in Europe.

Ollie Watkins kickstarted Aston ­Villa’s perfect evening as his 100th goal for the club enabled Unai Emery’s side to cruise into an all-English Europa League semi-final against ­Nottingham Forest.

The England striker, seeking a late recall into Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad, tapped home in the 16th minute before goals from Emiliano Buendía and Morgan Rogers, making amends for a spurned penalty, put the tie to bed by half-time.

Morgan Gibbs-White scored the only goal against a resilient ten-man Porto, as Forest reached their first European semi-final for 42 years

4 min: Sangare releases Gibbs-White down the right. Promising for Forest … until the whistle goes, Sangare having come through the back of Alberto Costa on the touchline. The correct decision, if annoyingly belated from a Forest point of view, everyone all excited for a second.

2 min: It’s an absolutely belting atmosphere, both sets of fans giving it plenty. But Porto nearly quieten the home fans in short order, Moffi latching onto a prod down the inside-right channel and attempting to flick past Ortega. The Forest keeper swipes away. The rebound falls to William Gomes, who blazes over. Yikes.

Ollie Watkins’s 100th Aston Villa goal set up a dominant victory as Unai Emery’s side teed up a semi-final with Nottingham Forest

3 mins: A few Villa players are a yellow card away from suspension: Cash, Rogers, McGinn, Digne and substitute Victor Lindelof. Bookings are wiped out for the semi-finals, but suspensions aren’t, so all five must tread carefully.

2 mins: Emi Buendia tries to bend one on target from the edge of the area, but sees his shot blocked.

• Sponsorship income due to rise by more than 40%

• Champions League clubs to benefit from the growth

Uefa is poised to bring in more than €1bn (£870m) a year in commercial revenues from club competitions from next year, with two more global sponsorship deals close to being agreed.

UC3, the commercial joint venture owned by Uefa and the clubs, is finalising agreements with an official payments provider and technology partner, which would complete their roster of premium global partners and see sponsorship income rise by more than 40%. Six-year deals with AB InBev as Uefa’s official beer partner and Pepsi as soft drinks provider from 2027 to 2033 have already been agreed, while Nike last week entered exclusive negotiations to replace Adidas as Uefa’s match ball provider.

There was a heady atmosphere in Bologna before this match, with flags flying everywhere and the legend “weareone” plastered on the walls of the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara. Into this fervent atmosphere stepped Aston Villa, with warnings against complacency from their manager ringing in their ears. The Premier League side did not play well and were second best for much of the night, but they did stay supremely cool and turned the nervous energy of their hosts back on them to take a two-goal lead home to Birmingham.

Ezri Konsa opened the scoring after a gaffe by the goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia, before a second-half double from Ollie Watkins determined the outcome of the match and overwrote Jonathan Rowe’s late goal for the hosts. Bologna’s Englishman, a former Norwich City winger, was likely the man of the match, but Watkins’ ability to remain calm in pressured situations will surely prove the more decisive factor in this tie.

On the night Chris Wood returned from six months on the sidelines, a freakish own goal by the Porto defender Martim Fernandes earned Nottingham Forest a draw and fostered optimism of advancing to the Europa League semi-finals.

The New Zealand striker was withdrawn at the interval, Vitor Pereira mindful of the bigger picture with Sunday’s home match against Aston Villa the first of seven matches Forest have to preserve their Premier League status. This all remains a juggling act for Pereira, back here in the red corner for the first time since guiding Porto to successive titles.

Ollie Watkins scored twice to give Unai Emery’s side a healthy advantage before the return leg at home

The players are out. The DJ presses play on the Unai Emery anthem.

Federico Bernardeschi has just a couple of goals in Serie A for Bologna this season – but he’s their leading man in the Europa League, with five this campaign. He scored in both legs of their last-16 triumph against Roma.

A ludicrous Martim Fernandes own goal allowed Nottingham Forest to leave Porto level going into the second leg

Thiago Silva is at the back for Porto, at a very young 41. He must ruddy love football. I would have been a deck chair long ago. It is, however, nice to know there are still a few active footballers who are older than me.

This is relevant, in many ways, to this game.

The New Zealand striker provides a welcome boost as Forest face crunch games in the league and in Europe

Nobody has scored more goals in the Europa League this season than Igor Jesus and yet the overwhelming source of interest surrounding Nottingham Forest on arrival in northern Portugal on Wednesday was another striker. Only Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak outscored Chris Wood in the Premier League last season and the New Zealand frontman has been slowly building fitness and working towards a long-awaited first-team return.

All eyes were on Wood at last weekend’s interactive open-training session, staged at the City Ground. He has been ticking off different targets since knee surgery in December and at the end of last month the 34-year-old made a welcome goalscoring comeback 11 minutes into his return to action for Forest under-21s against Newcastle, in modest surroundings at Loughborough University’s stadium in front of a crowd totalling a couple of hundred: students, Forest fans, a few from the north-east.