Nottingham Forest takes a 1-0 lead to Aston Villa in Europa League semifinal

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Nottingham Forest makes a short trip to Birmingham with a 1-0 advantage against Aston Villa in the second leg of their Europa League semifinal on Thursday.

Both clubs hope to contest their first European final in decades.

For Nottingham, it has been 46 years. The relegation-threatened Premier League club won the European Cup, the precursor to the Champions League, under the great Brian Clough in 1979 and 1980.

Forest has been unbeaten in its last 10 games in all competitions but it remains unclear if key attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White will play after suffering a facial injury on Monday in a 3-1 win against Chelsea in the Premier League.

Villa, the European champion in 1982, has reached its second semifinal in Europe in three seasons. It sits fifth in the English top flight and stands a good chance of qualifying for the Champions League again after advancing to the quarterfinals last season.

Villa needs to snap a three-game losing streak at Villa Park to progress.

In the other semifinal, the Bundesliga’s Freiburg needs to overturn a one-goal deficit from a 2-1 defeat to Braga in the opening leg in Portugal.

Freiburg has enjoyed its best European campaign while Braga hopes to advance to the final again after it lost to domestic rival Porto 1-0 in 2011.

The final is in Istanbul on May 20.

In the third-tier Conference League, Crystal Palace is in control of its semifinal against Shakhtar Donetsk after winning 3-1 in the Ukrainian team’s exile in Krakow, Poland, last week.

If Palace advances in its maiden European campaign, English clubs will compete in all three European finals.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins during a training session in Tamworth, England, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, ahead of the Europe League soccer match against Nottingham Forest. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

Nottingham Forest manager Vitor Pereira with Igor Jesus during a training session at the Nigel Doughty Academy, Nottingham, England, Wednesday May 6, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White receives treatment for a head injury during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Nottingham Forest in London, Monday, May 4, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — About 40 passengers on a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak previously disembarked on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena after the first passenger died, Dutch officials said Thursday.

The dozens of passengers, including the wife of a Dutch man who died, left the cruise ship during a stop at the British territory, the Dutch foreign ministry said.

The cruise company that operates the ship previously said the Dutch woman disembarked the ship with her husband's body at St. Helena. She then flew to South Africa on a commercial plane.

However, the company has not acknowledged that anyone else got off the ship.

Dutch authorities did not confirm where the passengers who disembarked are now. Authorities in South Africa and Europe are trying to trace contacts of any passengers who got off the ship.

Three passengers died in the outbreak onboard, and several others are sick.

The MV Hondius cruise ship departs the port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)