For a season of so many zeniths and dreams, it has been quite the week of doom and gloom for Aston Villa and their manager Unai Emery. Three defeats on the spin, including a wretched home defeat to Tottenham on Sunday, is glaring in its pecularity when you consider their position in the table (fifth, on course for Champions League qualification) and their impressive run in Europe.
Yet the contrast to tonight’s visitors, Nottingham Forest, is stark. Vitor Pereira – Forest’s fourth manager this season – is riding high on a five-game winning streak, the last of which came on Monday as a second-string side dismantled Chelsea in west London, to put them a step closer to Premier League safety. Forest are unbeaten in 10, dating back to mid-March. The Portuguese coach has made quite the impact.
And yet, for both sides, a place in the Europa League final could come down to a story of two 10s. And two Morgans at that.
“It’s a big question… I really don’t know,” came Pereira’s answer on Wednesday, when asked about the health of his star playmaker, Morgan Gibbs-White. Arguably English football’s most in-form player, the 26-year-old suffered a ghastly cut to his forehead at Stamford Bridge. With no concussion protocols at play, simply a matter of whether the wound will heal in time, Gibbs-White could wear a face mask on Thursday night to take part in Forest’s biggest continental match in 46 years.
“[He is in] pain for sure,” Pereira added. “We will see until tomorrow if he is able [to play] or not. It’s a decision between the player, the medical department and myself, but we haven’t had the last meeting to decide.”
Gibbs-White’s influence on Forest’s late-season renaissance cannot be understated. Five goals and two assists in the last five matches depict a player at the peak of his powers, so much so that an inclusion in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad almost looks like a formality with each game that passes. Thursday’s seismic occasion will be all the poorer if he is unable to take to the field.
Clamours for him to start this summer, such is his fantastic run of form, ride in the face of Tuchel’s preference in the highly competitive No 10 role so far. Not Jude Bellingham. Not Cole Palmer. Not Phil Foden. Rather, Morgan Rogers.
While Gibbs-White’s performances have spiked at just the right time, Rogers’s extraordinary early-season output has, perhaps understandably, plateaued: just two goals and two assists in his last 15 in all competitions.
To all intents and purposes, the midfielder looks knackered. And last week, as a bizarre Lucas Digne handball in the box gifted Forest a one-goal advantage heading into tonight’s tie, one of the more masterful moments came when Elliot Anderson left Rogers trailing in his wake with a gorgeous nutmeg. As Ally McCoist said on commentary for TNT Sports: “I’ve got a feeling that might get a mention at the next England camp!”
Yet it is foolish to dismiss the recent noise around Villa as social media tittle-tattle. Much was made of Emery’s seven changes on Sunday and, it should be noted, his unusual timidity on the touchline. But despite his clear prioritisation and target, namely to reach the Istanbul showpiece on 20 May, the Spaniard looked to play down his team’s chances of a first major trophy in 30 years – and what would be his fifth Europa League title in the process.
“It’s not a defeat if we do not achieve a trophy,” he said on Wednesday. This from a man who has won this trophy four times, three with Sevilla and one with Villarreal. “When I spoke before the first leg, we had a 25 per cent possibility to win a trophy. Now it’s maybe less because we started losing.
“We have 50 per cent or maybe less to play the final. This is football, and you must respect every competition, and in Europe you must respect each team.”
On what should be a raucous occasion at Villa Park, this fourth meeting in four months between these two represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for both sets of supporters. Villa have not been in a continental final since their 1982 European Cup victory, while for Forest, the same can be said for 1980 and Brian Clough’s glorious second European Cup.
What’s more, both Villa and Forest will massively fancy their chances against either Braga (who hold a 2-1 lead) or Freiburg in the final. All in all, throwing in the inevitable passion and intensity of an all-English semi-final second leg, with everything at stake, it should make for an unforgettable night under the lights. And if the two star Englishmen who share a name can conjure some spells of their own, a magical May is within touching distance for the victorious club.
