Vitor Pereira
Nottingham Forest’s Europa League journey came to a disappointing conclusion as they suffered a 4-0 defeat against Aston Villa in the semi-final second leg at Villa Park. Despite holding a 1-0 lead from the first leg, Forest struggled to maintain their advantage due to a series of injuries that left them without key players.
Vitor Pereira said: “We had three injured players not in condition to go on the pitch and help the team, three boys from the academy and Murillo. Murillo was a risk to play; he was not yet ready to play. In the end, I am proud of my team and my players, proud of our supporters. We tried everything but we didn’t have the solutions. When we tried to risk something with the solutions we had on the bench, they scored two more goals. A sad day, difficult, but we need to look for the future. Aina out. Dan Ndoye out. Sangare out. Callum out. Murillo out. Morgan out. It is too much. I don’t know if some of them can recover for the next match.”
Vitor Pereira added: “If you look before the game on the bench we had three players, because the other ones were injured. Our bench today the only solutions we had from the first team was Bakwa, Lucca; Murillo we tried but he was injured and not in condition, and Yates. I’m very proud of our supporters, they tried on this long road to help us, but it was not possible. It is a pity but I am proud of my players because they tried everything.”
Forest’s head coach, Vitor Pereira, expressed his pride in his team and supporters despite the setback. The squad was significantly depleted, with Morgan Gibbs-White and Ibrahim Sangare among those unable to play. Gibbs-White, who had recently sustained a facial injury, was visibly frustrated on the bench, unable to contribute to the match. The absence of key players like Ola Aina, Dan Ndoye, and Callum Hudson-Odoi further compounded Forest’s challenges. The lack of depth forced Pereira to rely on academy players and those not fully fit, such as Murillo, who made only a brief appearance.
The match highlighted the impact of injuries on Nottingham Forest’s performance, as they struggled to compete against a full-strength Aston Villa side. Despite the heavy defeat, Pereira remained optimistic about the future, focusing on recovery and preparation for upcoming challenges.
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