Nottingham Forest will face Aston Villa in the semi-finals of the Europa League after beating Porto at the City Ground
Nottingham Forest head coach Vitor Pereira celebrates victory over Porto(Image: Getty)
Head coach Vitor Pereira is not yet ready to contemplate the schedule congestion facing Nottingham Forest courtesy of their Europa League progression.
A memorable night at the City Ground on Thursday saw the Reds clinch a place in the semi-finals of a continental competition for the first time in 42 years. Victory over Porto set up a mouthwatering encounter with Aston Villa in an all-English duel to reach next month’s showpiece in Istanbul.
But for Pereira, the quest for silverware must be balanced against the fight for Premier League survival. And to that end, the calendar does not look kind.
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Forest will host Villa in the semi-final first leg on Thursday, April 30, before the return at Villa Park seven days later on May 7. Between those two matches, Pereira’s men travel to Chelsea on May 4 – the only time this season a team competing in the Europa League or Conference League has been scheduled to play in the Premier League on a Monday.
“Can I be honest? Can I be honest with you? I didn’t think about that yet,” said Pereira, whose team toppled Porto 1-0 in their quarter-final second leg and 2-1 on aggregate.
Asked if the quick turnaround seemed unfair, the Portuguese added: “Yes, I know. I said before that if we want to help the English teams in European competitions, we need to reorganise the schedule to give at least four days between playing, because playing on the third day is very difficult.
“Third day and third day and third day, we don’t have time to recover. It’s difficult to recover.
“But you know, this is not in my hands. We need to face the reality and to try our best.
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“I believe that the teams in this moment of the competition need to have one more day to recover. But I don’t know if it’s possible or not.”
Villa will have an extra day of recovery before the decider in the West Midlands. Unai Emery’s side host Tottenham Hotspur on the Sunday before welcoming the Reds.
Pereira is not looking too far ahead, however. On the back of Thursday night his attention has now switched to this Sunday’s crucial fixture with second-bottom Burnley on the banks of the Trent (2pm kick-off).
With six games remaining, Forest are just three points above the drop zone ahead of this weekend’s round of fixtures. West Ham United are a point below them, while Spurs currently occupy the third relegation spot.
“Please don’t ask me about the Aston Villa game, let me focus,” Pereira said. “I want to put all my energy in the Burnley game; all my energy, all my focus, into Burnley. After, I will have the pleasure to speak with you about Aston Villa.”
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