Overview
- Nottingham Forest beat Aston Villa 1-0 at the City Ground on Thursday after VAR confirmed a Lucas Digne handball and Chris Wood buried the 71st-minute penalty.
- Emiliano Martínez kept Villa level in the first half with a reflex save from Igor Jesus that preserved 0-0 at the break.
- Sporting Braga defeated Freiburg 2-1 in Portugal thanks to Mario Dorgeles’s winner in the 90+2 minute after a rebound.
- The second legs are next Thursday, with Villa hosting at Villa Park and the winners heading to the May 20 final in Istanbul.
- Pre-match coverage noted Unai Emery’s Villa on a nine-game European win streak, while Forest are chasing a first European final since 1980.