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HEROES AND VILLANS

Nottingham Forest’s quest to emulate Tottenham continues. For all of Spurs’ ongoing misery, they remain something of a model club: Forest’s quarter-final victory against Porto on Thursday night keeps that twisted dream alive, to finish 17th in the league and lift Bigger Vase. Naturally, Ange Postecoglou started the run, getting a point at Real Betis in September before passing the baton to Sean Dyche, who did most of the group-stage slog. He then handed over to Vítor Pereira for the knockouts. Should Forest go all the way, they’ll need to cut the manager’s medal into quarters; Nuno Espírito Santo was the man who got them into Europe. Yes, what a healthy way this is to run a football club.

By comparison, Aston Villa have been all boring and responsible, reaching the last four with one man at the helm. Unai Emery – whose love for Bigger Vase is one of the great romances of the age, its anthem presumably his ringtone – is still on for his fifth title after a tension-free evening at Villa Park, turning their two-goal advantage from the first leg against Bologna into a 7-1 aggregate whooping. Villa and Forest on the edge of European glory and another Top Gun in the works? The 80s are so back, baby.

The two sides will meet in the first all-English European semi-final since 2009, when Cristiano Ronaldo sent a 40-yarder past Manuel Almunia as Manchester United strolled past Arsenal in Big Cup. But think of Our League™ on the continent and the mind goes straight to the Chelsea-Liverpool ties of the Noughties. The teams met in five consecutive seasons, three semi-finals among them. We got Luis García’s ghost goal, a penalty shootout at Anfield and a 4-4 at Stamford Bridge – worth a rewatch just for the cheek of Fábio Aurélio’s free-kick. Probably best to ignore those goalless draws in the 2005-06 group stage.

Over in Tin Pot, the victorious farewell is very much on for Oliver Glasner. A 2-1 defeat by Fiorentina didn’t matter, the bulk of Crystal Palace’s work done at home last week. They’ll face Shakhtar Donetsk in the semi-finals and got their late-night celebrations on around the streets of Florence. Glasner, who will leave Selhurst in the summer, won Big Vase with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022 and he’s trying to stay consistent. Comparing the two sides, Glasner roared: “What’s exactly the same is the players’ aspirations to go out tonight. This was the same as what the Frankfurt players asked when they won the quarter-final. I agreed a few years ago that the players can go out, and I agreed tonight that the players can go out. Hopefully the ending of the story will be the same.”

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

Join John Brewin at 8pm BST for hot Championship promotion party updates from Blackburn Rovers 0-0 Coventry City.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“At this stage, our primary focus is on our safety, our health and beginning the process of rebuilding our lives … The compassion and support shown to us during this challenging time has provided us with hope for a future where we can live and compete in safety” – Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh, two members of the Iran team who remained in Australia after the Women’s Asian Cup, express their gratitude at being granted the opportunity to build new lives.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

It comes as no surprise to fans of both Burnley and Blackburn that Vincent Kompany rates his victories as the Clarets’ manager over the Rovers, as up there with his Bayern side beating the cry-babies of Real Madrid (yesterday’s Football Daily). In fact, his team (sadly for this Blackburn fan) clinched the 2022-23 Championship title at Ewood Park. That was the night Kompany earned mine and many Rovers fans’ respect when he curtailed the Burnley players’ raucous celebrations right in front of the hurting Rovers supporters. A class act” – John Myles.

I’m afraid that a 35-year career in science has made me somewhat of a pedant when it comes to measurements. I am completely confused by the Michael Carrick scale of ridiculousness in refereeing decisions. Is ‘the most ridiculous decision’ the sending-off of Harry Maguire for pulling a player down in the area? Or is it the hair-pulling red card? Or is it the extra game that Maguire got for swearing at the refs as he left the pitch? A scale requires an upper and lower limit to allow people to assign a number; constantly sliding scales make no sense. And don’t get me started on the Real Madrid scale” – Pat Condreay.

The ‘boots to the face’ image in Football Daily earlier this week reminded me of the occasion when, playing Monday night seven-a-side on the astroturf pitches behind Dulwich Hamlet many moons ago, I received a boot in the chops from a young lad on the opposing team. His dad, who was also on their team, was at pains to let me know how minor the injury was … until I unintentionally poked my tongue through the gaping hole under my bottom lip. At which point he grudgingly conceded I might need to pop to the local A&E” – David Madden.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … David Madden, just to ease his pain all these years later. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.

‘I WONDER TO MYSELF …’

Despite the many hyperbolic claims of host broadcasters down the decades, there have been very few games in Premier League history that can lay claim to being genuine title deciders. And while Sunday’s clash between Manchester City and Arsenal, like many others, comes short of falling into that category, the panic in north London that a City win would induce means it’s not far off. You know it’s close when media outlets start tentative talk of a potential playoff between the pair, which is only possible in a world where the teams end the regular campaign locked on points, goal difference, goals scored and their head-to-head record. Oh, and away goals scored in head-to-head games. All of which can only happen if it finishes 1-1 on Sunday. This is all a roundabout way of saying Sunday’s serving is seriously high stakes, the biggest game of the season. Which surely means Mikel Arteta will park the bus and we’ll get the dullest 0-0 stalemate of all time, right?

NEWS, BITS AND BOBS

Union Berlin president Dirk Zingler has ruled out giving interim men’s team manager Marie-Louise Eta the job on a permanent basis next season. “If [Eta] is really good, then she stays with the men, and if she’s not so good, she goes to the women? That’s not a discussion I’m having at all,” he sniffed. “It’s always a specialist, fact-based decision about who coaches which team and if we associate her with this discussion, then we’re doing a disservice to her and to women’s soccer as a whole. Marie-Louise Eta will be responsible for five games here and then she will take over the women.”

Handsome Hervé Renard claims he’s been binned as Saudi Arabia manager, less than two months out from the Geopolitics World Cup.

Amid doubts about Enzo Fernández’s future, Chelsea’s BlueCo owners have been handed a major boost after Moisés Caicedo agreed to write Moisés Caicedo all over a new contract, probably until about 2075.

Bromley are a point closer to League One after being held to a 0-0 draw at home by Cambridge United. “We remain unbeaten at home and at this stage of the season clean sheets will get you promoted,” cooed boss Andy Woodman.

And Leo Messi has been shopping, picking up Spanish fifth-tier club UE Cornellà and snaffling them at the self-serve checkout. “This move reinforces Messi’s close ties to Barcelona and his commitment to the development of sport and local talent in Catalonia – a connection rooted in his years at FC Barcelona and sustained ever since,” cheered a club statement.

STILL WANT MORE?

Here are 10 things you should be looking out for in the Premier League this weekend.

Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta are managers both schooled in the ways of Barcelona and Johan Cruyff, but the latter’s penchant for applying the handbrake could be his undoing, writes Rob Draper.

For all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, Arsenal are still favourites to win the Premier League according to the stats and sensible logic. Opta’s Oliver Hopkins cuts through the noise.

Roberto De Zerbi has made his name as a tactician, but stats and systems aren’t much help to a Spurs team lacking in belief. That’s according to Harry Paterson.

With many viewing Bayern Munich versus PSG as the de facto Bigger Cup final, Nick Ames explores how Vincent Kompany has got the Bavarians bossing Europe. It’s a far cry from Turf Moor on a chilly Tuesday night.

Nick also explains that, even though Ipswich are in the promotion driving seat, little is ever as it seems with Championship.

And have a bash at the sport quiz of the week. You know you want to.

MEMORY LANE

Coventry City can secure promotion by avoiding defeat at Blackburn. The Sky Blues have been out of the Premier League since relegation in 2000-01, and their last promotion to the top flight came in 1967, part of Jimmy Hill’s “Sky Blue Revolution”. Here, we can see Hill showing his players a brand new Hillman Imp in 1965, perhaps as some kind of motivational tactic.

THE CURRY TEST BEGINS