Credit: Breaking Media

Daniel Lewis

Wed 29 April 2026 11:10, UK

Unai Emery has Aston Villa two games away from a major final, with Nottingham Forest up next over two legs in the Europa League.

The Spaniard is a master of winning the competition, having done so a record four times so far in his illustrious career.

That includes another record of three triumphs on the spin with Sevilla between 2014 and 2016, with his other success coming at Villarreal in 2021.

Emery’s main aim for the remainder of this season is to go all the way with Villa and become a five-time winner.

And Villa could match a record should they earn a first-leg advantage in their away clash with Nottingham Forest on Thursday.

Aston Villa have Manchester City record in their sights

Villa have been made the slight favourites to overcome Nottingham Forest in their first-leg showdown at the City Ground.

That is perhaps not surprising when you consider not only the Emery factor, but the fact the Villans are 19 points better off than their Midlands rivals in the Premier League.

On top of that, Villa have won 11 Europa League matches this season, which only three teams in the competition’s history can better in a single campaign.

Those teams are Porto in 2010-11 (12 wins), Atletico Madrid in 2011-12 (13) and fellow English side Chelsea in 2018-19 (12).

Emery’s men could therefore break Atletico Madrid’s record should they win both legs against Forest and also the final, against either Braga or Freiburg.

One record Villa could equal on Thursday is Man City’s 10 wins in a row in any major European competition, which they set between May 2023 and March 2024.

What is Unai Emery’s Europa League semi-final record?

This will be the seventh Europa League semi-final that Emery has managed in his career, dating back to 2009-10.

That is at least two more than any other manager has managed. The 54-year-old lost his first one in 2011-12 with Valencia, but has progressed from each of the last five.

That includes with Arsenal in 2018-19 when losing the final to Chelsea in Baku.

Incidentally, this will be the first major European semi-final between two English teams since the 2008-09 Champions League between Arsenal and Manchester United, which the latter won 4-1 on aggregate.