- Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest have agreed to provide the minimum allocation of away tickets for both legs of their Europa League semi-final
- UEFA rules require a minimum of only 5%
- It means 1,699 Villans will travel to the City Ground, and 2,162 Forest supporters will be at Villa Park
An agreement has been revealed between Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest that the minimum required allocation of away tickets will be provided for both legs of their Europa League semi-final. This allows both clubs to maximise their home atmosphere in what is a very high-stakes match.
Europa League rules stipulate that only a minimum of 5% of a stadium’s UEFA spectator capacity must be allocated to away supporters.
This is different from the Premier League regulations, which require at least 3,000 tickets to be provided to visiting teams, unless the stadium capacity is below 30,000.
As our Read Aston Villa team has previously reported, 1,699 Villans will make the 50-mile trip to the City Ground for the first leg on Thursday. Compared to their recent league game with Forest, this is around 1,300 fewer fans.
When they announced this, Villa supporters erupted in uproar and argued that the club should make a tit-for-tat response.
It seems their wish has been granted with only 2,162 Forest fans travelling to Villa Park for the second leg on Thursday 7th May, which is the minimum required.
Although this is obviously more than what Villa will take to the City Ground, it will still see the away team heavily outnumbered by more than 40,000 home supporters.
Biggest game of the season so far
Unai Emery’s side has been here before.
Two-years ago in the Europa Conference League semi-finals against Olympiacos, and last year when they faced PSG in the Champions League quarter-final.
They haven’t yet been able to get across the line, and make it to a final.
Over the last few seasons, they have also failed to step up in big games in the league, such as the final day of last season, where they missed out on Champions League qualification after losing 2-0 at Old Trafford.
The players need a winner’s mentality, and Thursday’s game is their biggest opportunity to showcase that they have what it takes to deal with the pressure of a semi-final.
They must put themselves in a good position for their home leg, so Emery will ensure his team is defensively solid first, before looking to go on the attack.
A 30-year wait since their last trophy is too long, and there is no better chance to put an end to it than this season.
It’s been an up-and-down campaign, but they’ve managed to battle hard to be where they are in the league and Europe.
There would be nothing more uplifting than to lift the Europa League next month. However, they have to take on Nottingham Forest first.
