Igor Jesus leads Nottingham Forest into a 2-1 semifinal tie
igor jesus is at the center of a fully English UEFA Europa League semifinal as Nottingham Forest host Aston Villa at the City Ground on Thursday, 30 April. Kickoff is set for 20:00 BST, with the tie giving both clubs a direct route toward the final from one game in Nottingham.
City Ground on 30 April
Nottingham Forest will carry the home leg into a 20:00 BST start at the City Ground, a setup that puts Vítor Pereira’s team in front of its own crowd against Unai Emery’s fifth-place Premier League side. For U.S. viewers, that means a 15:00 Eastern time kickoff and a 12:00 Pacific time start.
The match arrives with Forest still trying to settle their league situation after consecutive emphatic wins over Burnley and Sunderland, while Aston Villa enter from a stronger domestic position. That contrast gives the semifinal a sharp edge: one side has recently eased relegation concerns, the other is trying to convert fifth place into a European final place.
Forest and Villa paths
Nottingham Forest reached the last four with a 2-1 aggregate win over Porto, and Pereira’s side now has to turn that narrower margin into another result against stronger English opposition. Forest do not have the cushion Villa showed in the quarterfinal round, so the margin for error is smaller.
Aston Villa arrived with far more room to breathe after a 7-1 aggregate win over Bologna, a scoreline that underlines the gap between how the two semifinalists handled the previous round. That difference in aggregate totals matters because it sets up a tie where Forest must be cleaner defensively and more efficient in front of goal to keep pace.
Watching in the United States
Paramount Plus has exclusive English-language live rights to the UEFA Europa League in the United States, which makes the service the practical route for viewers who want the semifinal live. The Essential plan costs $8 per month and the Premium plan costs $13 per month, with a 30-day free trial for new subscribers and a 25% discount for students.
For supporters following the match from outside the United Kingdom, the schedule is the main operational detail: 15:00 Eastern time, 12:00 Pacific time, and 05:00 EST in Australia on Friday. Forest have the venue, Villa have the stronger aggregate number, and the winner moves one step closer to a final that now has an all-English gatekeeper in Nottingham.
