Listen to 5 Live & watch Final Score at top of page
Watkins opens scoring to level tie at Villa Park, Buendia doubles advantage from spot and McGinn double makes it four
Forest held 1-0 lead from first leg
Winner will face Freiburg or Braga in final
That's the end of this live text now. Thanks for joining us tonight.
A reminder of the European finals...
FT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
And also there you can see the readers' player ratings including a 9.52/10 for John McGinn. Five Villa players all ranked in the 8s. No Forest player even averaged 5/10.
FT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
You can read Nick Mashiter's match report from Villa Park by clicking the report tab in this page.
FT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
I don't think we're going to hear from him tonight. Since this live text finishes in four minutes.
FT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
We're still waiting to hear from Unai Emery. Where are you, man?
Click 'Get Involved' to have your say
As a Forest fan, I have no issue with admitting Villa deserve to go through after that 2nd leg performance, absolutely bossed us. However that defensive performance was woeful, especially for the last 3 goals. With MGW and Anderson likely off, could be a tough season next season.
Sam, Huddersfield
Image source, Getty ImagesFT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
Villa had lost their last two semis - against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup and Olympiacos in the Conference League - but have ended that rut now.
FT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
Nottingham Forest have lost their last three semi-finals – the 2022-23 League Cup v Manchester United, the 2024-25 FA Cup v Manchester City, and this Europa League v Aston Villa.
FT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira, speaking to TNT Sports: "To compete in a semi final and against a team like Aston Villa, we need everyone in the conditions to compete. If you look before the game on the bench we had three players, because the other ones were injured. Our bench today the only solutions we had from the first team was Bakwa, Luca, Murillo we tried but he was injured and not in condition, and Yates. This is very short to come here without solutions.
"Playing against Chelsea and then travelling again to come here after three days, it was not possible. I'm very proud of our supporters, they tried on this long road to help us, but it was not possible. It is a pity but I am proud of my players because they tried everything."
On the Villa penalty decision: "I didn't see it but I tell you one thing, this referee was a very good referee but not for us. A lot of yellow card and fouls, a lot of fouls against us and against them they forget. He permitted a lot of the aggressiveness. In the end I don't want to use an excuse. To resume today we were not in our level to compete for the semi-final."
On why Forest could not match Villa's intensity: "Aina, out. Morgan [Gibbs-White] out. Sangare, out. Murillo, out. Callum [Hudson-Odoi], out. Ndoye, out. To bring the full squad we put three injured players on the bench, and we brought three more players from the academy. To compete in a game in these conditions, after a game against Chelsea, and play in a semi-final is not possible. This is why I said we were not able to compete."
We will bring you quotes from Vitor Pereira soon but we're still waiting for Unai Emery.
In case you are wondering why I'm just waffling on about imaginary beers with footballers.
FT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
That's not the only metric I use to judge players mind. Which is just as well. I don't think Lionel Messi would be much of a laugh over a pint.
FT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
John McGinn always strikes me as a footballer I'd like to go for a beer with.
Image source, EPAFT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn, speaking to TNT Sports about Unai Emery: “He’s experienced a lot more European semi-finals than us. In the Conference League semi-final we probably went a little bit too gung-ho, but today we managed it.
“He’s been amazing, but so have all the managers I’ve played under. Steve Bruce gave me the confidence to play in England, Dean Smith gave me the confidence to play in the Premier League, Steven Gerrard taught me how to be a leader.”
On Victor Lindelof: “Victor has been outstanding. He’s a been a little bit hard done by since he signed – I don’t think he’s done a foot wrong. The way he fitted in there tonight was outstanding.
“The manager worked on it a lot. We’ve got versatile players. It suited us well and it’s the best we’ve played in a while.”
On his goals: “I used to lash at things, but you learn from your mistakes. I was just over the moon.”
On Villa’s wait for a trophy: “I felt [the nerves] this morning, but now it’s about embracing it. You see the guys in 1982, the cup winners in the 90s. The club’s been through some massive lows, but such a massive group deserves success. Hopefully we’ll be the ones to bring it.”
FT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn, speaking to TNT Sports: “I’m normally quite calm before games, but today I was nervous. Tonight was up with one of the best performances I’ve seen from a Villa team for a long time.
“I wasn’t nervous in terms of the team turning up. We’ve turned up in big games, maybe just not in big semi-finals.
“The injuries Forest have had maybe helped decide it, but we needed to capitalise – and we did. The atmosphere in here was electric.
“Anything can happen in a game. You can get somebody sent off in the first 10 minutes, first 15. We didn’t want to leave these games with any regrets, and I think we’ve done ourselves massive justice.
“We’ve had low moments, definitely. It’s a demanding club to play for, but when it’s like this, Villa Park is electric. What we’ve done in the last few years is exceptional.
“The margins in football are so slim. If we lose tonight, we’re the nearly men. When we go to Istanbul, we need to make sure we’re not the nearly men.”
FT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
This was the biggest ever margin of victory in any all-English European game.
It was also the biggest by any side in a Europa League semi-final game since Manchester United 6-2 Roma in 2020-21.
FT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
Aston Villa have reached their first European final since the 1982 European Cup final, 44 years ago.
The only English clubs to have a longer gap between such finals are Manchester City (51 – 1970 to 2021) and West Ham United (47 – 1976 to 2023).
Image source, Getty ImagesFT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
Ollie Watkins and John McGinn have both scored 11 European goals for Aston Villa – the joint-most of any players.
FT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
Dion Dublin
Former Aston Villa striker on BBC Radio 5 Live at Villa Park
Can you just imagine how many Aston Villa fans are going to be travelling to that final? It is going to be special. They won't forget this in a hurry. This is the point they wanted to be at. Now they can calm down, re-group and start to dream.
Click 'Get Involved' to have your say
Admittedly an atrocious performance from Forest but most teams will struggle without five key players - Aina, Sangare, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi and Murillo. Significant gap in quality in terms of back-up options. Pereira well and truly outsmarted and outwitted by Emery.
Marc in Chilwell, Nottingham
Image source, Getty ImagesFT: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (agg 4-1)
Dion Dublin
Former Aston Villa striker on BBC Radio 5 Live at Villa Park
Buendia goes below the radar. He plays good passes, weight of pass is good. His finishing is good. He's nasty too, he doesn't mind putting a foot in. He is one of those players Villa need in their side in order to achieve things. He doesn't want the plaudits, he just wants to play and get to finals.
Emi Buendia scored his 10th goal of the season to put Aston Villa ahead in the tie
At a glance
Ollie Watkins levels the semi-final on aggregate, then Emi Buendia's penalty puts Villa ahead
John McGinn's late double seals victory and a place in the Europa League final
Villa to face Freiburg in Istanbul on 20 May
Aston Villa demolished Nottingham Forest's hopes to charge into the Europa League final and edge closer to ending a 30-year major trophy drought.
John McGinn's late double added to Emi Buendia's penalty and Ollie Watkins' opener to complete Villa's comeback against Nottingham Forest after last week's 1-0 first-leg defeat.
The hosts booked a final against Bundesliga side Freiburg, who beat Braga 4-3 on aggregate, in Istanbul on 20 May.
Villa head coach Unai Emery is chasing his fifth Europa League title, having joined the club as a serial winner of this competition. His team will be looking to lift Villa's first major silverware since the 1996 League Cup, and with it book a Champions League spot.
They are still fifth in the Premier League and if they finish there and win the Europa League, the team in sixth - currently Bournemouth - will also qualify for the Champions League.
This was a deserved victory for the hosts, in front of fan Prince William, with Forest rarely threatening without Morgan Gibbs-White.
The playmaker was only fit enough for the bench following a head injury which required extensive stitches in Monday's win at Chelsea.
It took Villa until seven minutes before the break to level on aggregate when Watkins turned in Buendia's centre from the left.
They went ahead overall 13 minutes after the break when referee Glenn Nyberg awarded a penalty after reviewing the monitor following a VAR check when Nikola Milenkovic tugged Pau Torres.
Watkins had a goal disallowed for offside, while Emi Martinez denied Chris Wood at the other end, before McGinn 's quickfire two goals wrapped up victory.
If there were any doubts at Villa Park, they never showed.
Villa were on top from the start and with a frenzied crowd behind them victory seemed inevitable.
It took 36 minutes for the breakthrough to come, but Villa's victory was expected. They delivered a performance which gave Forest nothing, and Villa perhaps could have even gone up one or two notches further.
Villa need to win a trophy under Emery and this is the last chance for the squad as it stands, with the expectation of changes in the summer.
They have the chance to do that against Freiburg in Istanbul and few would bet against them after a devastating performance.
It justified Emery's changes for Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Tottenham, a performance which drew so much criticism - but there are no Villa fans worried about that any more.
A Europa League winner three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal, Emery holds a special grip on this competition.
He lost with Arsenal to Chelsea in 2019, but his Villa will be favourites in Istanbul in two weeks.
Villa won the European Cup in 1982 and have been without European success since - the class of 2026 may be about to write their names into the club's history.
Nottingham Forest were well beaten and never looked like defending the hard-earned first-leg lead.
The visitors lacked ingenuity and intelligence going forward.
Wood barely had scraps to feed off and James McAtee was replaced by Ryan Yates at half-time, having failed to make an impact.
Elliot Anderson, so controlling in the first leg, was a near passenger in midfield as he was unable to get a grip on the game.
After all the positivity following the first leg and the impact head coach Vitor Pereira has made in barely three months at the club, this was a desperately disappointing end to Forest's first European campaign in 30 years.
Yet the club have come a long way in four years since promotion back to the Premier League and a reflection on that journey is needed amid the pain that will be felt.
This has been a chaotic season, with four managers, a relegation battle and now a European semi-final exit, but Forest do not do anonymity.
Perhaps stability is what they need next season, to settle under Pereira, but recent history would suggest that is unlikely.
Aston Villa travel to Burnley on Sunday (14:00 BST), with their home game against Liverpool now moved to Friday, 15 May (20:00) because of the Europa League final.
Nottingham Forest must pick themselves up for Sunday's visit of Newcastle (14:00) before a trip to Manchester United on 17 May (12:30).
After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.
Manager:Unai Emery
Formation:4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager:Vítor Pereira
Formation:4 - 4 - 1 - 1
Manager:Unai Emery
Formation:4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager:Vítor Pereira
Formation:4 - 4 - 1 - 1
UEFA Europa League
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Aston Vila are unbeaten in each of their last 10 meetings with Nottingham Forest at Villa Park across all competitions (W7 D3), since a 2-0 loss in the Premier League in October 1994 under Ron Atkinson.
Nottingham Forest are unbeaten in each of their three European games against fellow English opposition, keeping a clean sheet each time (W2 D1) – their only previous away match was at Anfield versus Liverpool in the 1978-79 European Cup first round, drawing 0-0.
Aston Villa have won each of their last nine home games in major European competition, since a 0-0 draw with Juventus in last season’s UEFA Champions League; the Villans have also scored in 31 of their last 32 matches at Villa Park in such competitions, with that goalless draw the sole exception.
Nottingham Forest are looking to reach a third major European final after, the 1978-79 and 1979-80 European Cups – the Tricky Trees have only been eliminated from one of their last 13 knockout stage ties when winning the first leg, with that the 1983-84 UEFA Cup semi-final against Anderlecht.
Aston Villa are aiming to reach a second major European final, after the 1981-82 European Cup; the last team to overturn a first leg deficit in a major European tie against an opponent from the same nation as them were Atlético de Madrid vs Barcelona in the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals (1-2 away 1st leg, 2-0 home 2nd leg).
No team have recorded more clean sheets in the 2025-26 UEFA Europa League than both Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest (7), both keeping a joint-high three in the knockout stages; the Tricky Trees restricted the Villans to an xG of 0.8 in the first leg, their second lowest tally in a knockout stage game this term (0.5 away to Lille).
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has only once before lost both legs of a knockout stage tie in the UEFA Cup/Europa League, with Valencia against Atlético de Madrid in the 2011-12 semi-finals. In fact, that was the last two-legged tie the Spaniard was eliminated from in this competition, progressing from 22 in a row since.
In the first leg of this tie, Nottingham Forest’s Omari Hutchinson recorded the most dribbles (10), created the most chances (4) and had the joint-second most shots (3) – he was the first player to post each of those figures in a UEFA Europa League game since Athletic Club’s Nico Williams vs Roma in last season’s round of 16.
Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers has been directly involved in five goals in six home appearances in this season’s UEFA Europa League (2 goals, 3 assists), while he has also scored (1) or assisted (1) in his last two outings at Villa Park against Nottingham Forest in all competitions.
Nottingham Forest’s Igor Jesus has been directly involved in the most away goals in this season’s UEFA Europa League (5 – 4 goals, 1 assist) – he has also had the most shots (34), shots on target (16) and posted the highest xG figure (6.7) in the competition overall this term.
