Champions League in the Championship? Forest's juggling act goes on

Sahadan kritik gelişmeler geliyor. Champions League in the Championship? Forest's juggling act goes on Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Morgan Gibbs-White scored the only goal on Thursday night against Porto By Nick Mashiter Football reporter Published 17 minutes ago 10 Comments Championship game on a Saturday, Champions League match on a Tuesday? While Nottingham Forest bask in the glory of Thursday's victory over Porto in the Europa League quarter-finals , their position in the Premier League means their short and medium-term future remains somewhat complicated.

Forest's battling 1-0 win to secure a 2-1 victory on aggregate means they will play Aston Villa in their first European semi-final for 42 years. The winners of that all-English tie will head to Istanbul for the final on 20 May - against either Freiburg or Braga - as favourites. And victory in Turkey will not only earn silverware but a spot in next season's Champions League.

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Before that, however, they face crucial league fixtures against Burnley and Sunderland . If results in those games and elsewhere go against them, they could be in the relegation zone by the time that last-four tie with Villa arrives. Despite being on their best unbeaten run of the season, could Forest really end up playing the likes of Bristol City and Real Madrid in the same week next season?

Villa & Forest progress - relive eight iconic all-English European ties Published 1 hour ago 'Forest can survive and win the Europa League' Winning the Europa League was a target for Forest at the start of the season, having spent around £180m on new players. Owner Evangelos Marinakis was looking to build on last season's seventh-place finish, when Forest missed out on the Champions League on the final day. Four managers - Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche and now Vitor Pereira - later and it remains realistic despite the self-inflicted chaos this season.

Postecoglou lifted the Europa League with Tottenham last May and told his Forest players he wanted to defend the trophy after he replaced Nuno in September. During his 39 days in charge, Forest drew their opener 2-2 at Real Betis before a damaging 3-2 home defeat by Midtjylland saw fans turn on the Australian, who was sacked after seven winless games. Dyche fared little better , although he at least guided Forest out of the Europa League group phase, but the turbulent nature of the season means Pereira must now balance domestic and European goals into May.

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"They can do both ," former England international Karen Carney told TNT Sports. "The point against Aston Villa in the Premier League, this moment tonight finding themselves in the Europa League semi-finals, Burnley on Sunday... this could be a turning point for them this week.

Avoiding relegation Sunday's visit of Burnley remains key to Premier League safety with Forest having navigated three of their potentially season-defining games in the past seven days.

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