Overview
- The semifinal first legs, played Thursday, ended with Nottingham Forest 1-0 Aston Villa, Braga 2-1 Freiburg, Crystal Palace 3-1 Shakhtar Donetsk, and Rayo Vallecano 1-0 Strasbourg.
- Forest won through a Chris Wood penalty after a handball by Lucas Digne, with the striker converting past Emiliano Martínez on his return from injury.
- Braga edged Freiburg after Dorgeles scored in second-half stoppage time in a game marked by referee Anthony Taylor missing a holding foul that VAR upgraded to a penalty, which Zalazar failed to convert.
- Crystal Palace built a strong cushion on a neutral field in Kraków, striking in 24 seconds through Ismaïla Sarr before Daichi Kamada and Jørgen Strand-Larsen made it 3-1.
- Rayo gained a slim lead thanks to Alemao’s 55th-minute deflection from a corner, and all four ties now move to the May 7 return legs ahead of the Europa League final on May 20 in Istanbul.