Nottingham Forest move into the Europa League semi-finals after edging Porto 1-0 at the City Ground, yet Vitor Pereira is already switching focus to the Premier League survival fight. Forest sit 16th in the table and face Burnley on Sunday, with the head coach stressing recovery and concentration over any celebrations following the club’s first European semi-final appearance since the 1983-84 UEFA Cup.
Morgan Gibbs-White scored the only goal of the second leg, a deflected effort that broke the tension after a 1-1 draw in Portugal. The match turned early when Jan Bednarek received a red card in the eighth minute for a high tackle on Chris Wood, leaving Porto with 10 players for more than 80 minutes in Nottingham.
Pereira, facing former club Porto,
made clear that the Europa League progress cannot distract from domestic priorities. Forest still hold a 9.5% chance of relegation according to the Opta supercomputer, with Burnley and Wolves each listed at 100%, Tottenham at 50.8% and West Ham at 38%. The meeting with Burnley now carries major importance for Forest’s season.
Asked by TNT Sports about handling both a relegation battle and a European campaign, Pereira answered with a strong message about mentality and focus. "It starts now in the dressing room. After this game, we will start to speak about the next game. We don’t have time to celebrate. It’s time to recover and come back again, to be mentally strong. I prefer to come with a win – the motivation is different. It’s just Burnley in my head at the moment! It’s too much to think Villa too. I will think about it after Burnley. It will be a tough game; we need our supporters again. We need to go again as a family. "
The win sets up an all-English Europa League semi-final against Aston Villa, extending Forest’s European campaign into May. Their tie with Porto marked Forest’s first European semi-final qualification in more than four decades, while the upcoming Villa clash adds another chapter to English clubs’ continental meetings, drawing attention from supporters across Europe and in the Middle East.
Opta underlined the historic element of the tie with a notable statistic on English sides facing each other deep in Europe. "2 - Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest will be the first English teams to meet at the semi-final stage of a major European competition since Manchester United vs Arsenal in the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League. Seismic. "
The early dismissal for Bednarek carried its own place in Europa League records. The defender’s eighth-minute red card was the earliest in any Europa League knockout-stage fixture since Raul Meireles saw red for Fenerbahce against BATE Borisov in February 2013, when the midfielder was sent off in the fourth minute, leaving Porto quickly under pressure at the City Ground.
2 - Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest will be the first English teams to meet at the semi-final stage of a major European competition since Manchester United vs Arsenal in the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League. Seismic. pic.twitter.com/JzXNkN7pFrOptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 16, 2026
Gibbs-White acknowledged that the red card shifted the contest but still felt Forest earned their place in the last four. "We got fortunate with them going down to 10 men, we knew it would be difficult. Incredible win and we go onto the semi-finals, Gibbs-White said. It was an incredible night, one of the best nights I’ve had at the City Ground, thanks to the fans and everyone that made it happen. We said early on that we’d take this competition full-on, and we deservedly got the win today. Now we rest and go into the league. "
The midfielder’s celebration also carried a personal message, as Gibbs-White raised a shirt with Elliot Anderson’s name after scoring, honouring the team-mate who missed the game following the death of a parent. "It’s a really emotional night, Gibbs-White said. It’s a big shame, he’s an incredible kid and no one deserves this, but we’re all with him. " Forest now prepare for Burnley while also planning for Aston Villa, balancing European ambition with the urgent need for Premier League safety.
