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Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa: Europa League semi-final, first leg – live | Europa League
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1 min Away we go!
I love football at this time of year. OK, I love it at every time of year, but there’s something glorious and moving about the setting sun, and watching it get dark or failing to notice it getting dark, feeling wistful as another season passes. In a grim world, it’s very nice to have.
Our teams are tunnelled, and out they come! NOISE! MAGIC HOUR LIGHT!
“Imagine Mourinho going to Brentford and winning the league and then back-to-back Champions Leagues,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “Then Newcastle winning it the following year. That was kind of what the late 70s/early 80s were like with Forest and Villa. Mad, when you think back on it now. Of course, the Interweb were all fields in them days…”
Yup, I was alive but a baby, so don’t remember it happening, but it was a different footballing world – the eastern bloc players stayed put, and clubs like Forest and Villa didn’t have their best players poached by the richest when they were still foetuses.
Check out this, on the 1981 Cup Winners’ Cup final – perhaps the most 80s match ever, with some banging goals.
Email! “Having eschewed the Dragaoke event in the other room,” begins Benjamin Gravestock, “I’m perched with a pint and just glad Pereira has forgotten Emery’s weakness against wingbacks.
Onana is 80% of a Kamara in game-reading and 90% of a Kamara in terms of being in the right place at the right time, and 70% of a Kamara in distribution decisions, but you’re right that his presence is a big boon for a midfield that still looks a bit friable.
I have Villa lifting themselves for this game and think we’ll take 0, 1, or two goals back to VP, and finish it comfortably next week. But I may be kidding myself.”
It’s one of those games in which no result would massively surprise me. If Villa’s high line is exploited, they can lose by a few, but if their forwards fire, they can win by a few. I agree that Kamara is a big miss, but Onana’s physicality, especially early on, and his box-presence at both ends will be really helpful. I think he’d have played even if Kamara were available because in big games, managers tend to like the things he brings.
Vitor Pereira wants his team to play with spirit, ambition, quality; to be themselves. It’s a special team, he says – they’ve faced a lot of problems, having had four managers, different styles and methodologies, but they keep fighting, they’re united and they keep the same spirit and belief, which is special.
They have some injury issues, missing Sangare and Cunha, but though they’ve changed some players, they keep the same spirit. They have to prove that they deserve to be here, but they’re here because they’ve played well.
Apropos of not much, anyone seen the Northern Premier League, Midlands Division?
Carlton Town finished the season second, 25 points ahead of Rfifth-placed acing Club, who finished 24 points above second-bottom … and of course Racing then beat Carlton on penalties in the playoff semis. Coming soon to a Championship near you.
Emery wants his players to enjoy the occasion; respect their opponents and respect the ref. Onana is fit to start so he is, and that’s about it.
So which team is going to win? If they’re brave enough to get men in the box, I fancy Forest. I don’t massively rate Villa’s defence, which lacks a bit of physicality on the left – I’m not sure how they’re going to control Gibbs-White, and I think Wood can lean on Pau Torres.
Villa, on the other hand, are more likely to build through the middle. They’ll condense the play and look for quick interchanges, Ollie Watkins attacking the space in behind – especially in the absence of Murillo – with Emi Buendia in particular but also John McGinn looking to feed him in.
And as Gibbs-White does for Forest, so Rogers will do for them, mooching about dropping grenades, while Youri Tielemans will look to conduct from deep and arrive on the edge of the box to hit shots.
So where is the game? Well, Forest will look to stretch the play, their full-backs keeping width, especially on the left, with Gibbs-White roaming and an attacking the box. They’ll no doubt be looking to hit Wood with crosses, and won’t mind sitting deep to take advantage of Vila’s high line and their pace on the counter.
I’m not at all surprised Emery has recalled Onana. His ability to cover the width of the pitch will be especially useful given Forest’s use of wingers, while he’ll also be aware of the need to pick up Jesus, dropping off.
It’s also worth noting the 4-4-1-1 throwback formation they now deploy. It has various strengths – it’s the most frequently used out of position shape, gives centre-backs two men to worry about rather than the modish one, and allows for wide overloads.
The reason we see less of it, though, is that it can leave a team undermanned in midfield. But if you’re not seeking control, it’s a really good way to play football, especially if you’ve got good attackers, as Forest do.
I guess Vitor Pereira has to consider the relegation battle his side haven’t quite yet won.
The return of Chris Wood has coincided with some terrific goalscoring form throughout the team, a reference point around which Omari Hutchinson, Morgan Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus can buzz.
As for Villa, it’s just the one alteration for Unai Emery, Amadou Onana in for Lamare Bogarde.
Taking a closer look at those, Vitor Pereira makes two changes to the Forest side which walloped Sunderland. In net, Stefan Ortega replaces Matz Sels while, in central defence, Morato comes in for Jair Cunha and in midfield, it’s Nicola Dominguez not Ibrahim Sangare.
Teams!
Nottingham Forest (4-4-1-1): Ortega; Aina, Milenkovic, Morato, Williams; Hutchinson, Anderson, Dominguez, Gibbs-White; Jesus, Wood. Subs: Sels, Willows, Lucca, Yates, McAtee, Bakwa, Abbott, Whitehall, Sinclair, Hanks, Blake.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Tielemans, Onana; McGinn, Buendia, Rogers; Watkins. Subs: Bizot, Wright, Bogarde, Maatsen, Lindelof, Mings, Garcia, Luiz, Bailey, Elliott, Sancho, Abraham.
Of course! It’s a big game, so TNT have someone reading meaningful truisms in an earnest voice. I’m choking up here. Anyroad up, let’s have some teams…
Preamble
An affirming feature of Cup competitions is getting to enjoy clubs, players, managers and supporters enjoying and detesting their biggest game in generations. But what is much rarer is to have two teams, from neighbouring regions, competing against each other in a contest which means that much to both, and is vitally important in its own right.
The specific dynamics of our match this evening are also special. Villa are the superior team, fifth in the league having spent much of the campaign higher – there was, briefly, talk of a title challenge – but they’ve struggled in recent months and arrive at this evening in spotty form. Forest, meanwhile, are the inferior team, 16th in the league having spent much of the campaign lower – there is, still, talk of a relegation battle – but they’ve improved in recent weeks and arrive at this evening in top form.
Then if, to that, we add a febrile City Ground, under the lights, along with the adored history of both clubs – Forest were European champions in 1979 and 1980, Villa in 1982 – which those who remember remember, and which those who don’t will have had remembered to them for the duration of their lives – we have what is, without doubt, one of the matches of this season and one of the matches of any season.
This is absolutely colossal, and it’s coming at us right now.
Kick-off: 8pm BST
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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