Nottingham Forest will occur with Envie d’Aston Villa against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, dreaming of similar duels of the Champions League next season.
But Villa is just as jealous of Forest’s position in the Premier League, with the third part of Nuno Espirito Santo, heading for a finish among the first five which is likely to guarantee a place in the first club competition in Europe. Even after Villa beat Forest 2-1 on Saturday, there is still a difference of six points between the clubs.
However, if seasons like these must become typical rather than exceptional for these clubs, the decisions withdrawn from the field are just as important as those made there.
Villa Park burst on Saturday, as was all season. The city of the city is no different. The team bus is encouraged on arrival, fans reveal the spectacular tifos and today’s results evoke memories of the period between 1979 and 1982, when these clubs combined to win three of the four European cuts.
In modern football, winning matches is only part of the equation. To stay near the front of the peloton, the villa and the forest must answer delicate questions about their stadiums.
Under former director general Christian Purslow, Villa intended to increase the capacity of their land above 50,000 and improve the Villa Park area to generate income outside match days.
Aston Villa won three points in the race for the first four with a 2-1 victory against Nottingham Forest
Despite the defeat, Nottingham Forest also approaches a top five which should get a place in the Champions League next season, sitting in third place with 57 points
To stay close to the front of the peloton, the two clubs must answer delicate questions about their stadiums. In the photo: Villa Park before Saturday shock with Nottingham Forest
This project would have meant playing with a reduced capacity of 36,000 for two seasons to allow construction work to continue – which did not call on the boss Unai Emery. The Spaniard and his entourage thought that the move was likely to dilute the advantage at home.
So, the plan is now a smaller version of Purslow’s idea: extending the stadium to the blow, while improving fans areas and the club store and offering more reception options. This should stimulate the financial firepower of villa, but not enough.
The club knows that its best income -generating tool is the sales of players, which leaves little margin for the error on the transfer market. Finally, the sale of a key man each year catches up with you. Villa could probably banish nearly 100 million pounds sterling if they allowed Morgan Rogers to leave this summer, but finding an affordable player who has the same impact is extremely difficult.
The forest also knows it. They could find a buyer for Morgan Gibbs-White tomorrow, but not an appropriate replacement.
This is why the owner Evangelos Marinakis turns to Brazil, where he plans to invest in a lower division club, as well as to establish an academy. The forest thinks that this will give them an advantage over one of the most lucrative and competitive markets in the world.
This is only part of history. Even if it is probably the best atmosphere of the league, City Ground holds only about 30,000 – not enough to support Marinakis’ ambitions.
“What we have to do is have a bigger stadium,” said Marinakis last September. “We have a lot of supporters and a huge waiting list for season tickets and I am sure that a 50,000 -seat stadium will be full to watch our team and our passion.
“This is where the team belongs and where the tradition is. This is the most important thing for the city of Nottingham and it is something that I want to be able to finalize and for years to have one of the best stadiums in England.
City Ground contains about 30,000
The stadium is not enough to support the ambitions of the forest owner Evangelos Marinakis
Aston Villa had previously planned to increase the capacity of their land greater than 50,000 and to improve the area around Villa Park to generate income outside match days
Although Forest hopes to start working in the summer of 2026, there are still obstacles to erase, and the forest retains the possibility of building a brand new house elsewhere – as unpopular as it would initially be with their supporters.
As Tottenham has discovered it since they left White Hart Lane in 2017, a club can build the best stadium in the world, but it takes years to recreate the feeling of their old house.
Try as they could, clubs like Villa and Forest think that the dice are loaded against them. They have billionaire owners but do not have the strength generating income from Manchester United or Liverpool, which means that they are limited by premier League expenses.
It will take many years to build the commercial attraction of these clubs around the world, even if Villa wins the Champions League this year and forming the FA Cup.
Meanwhile, these midlands giants will focus on the test of breaking the glass ceiling. Villa has decided to go to one of the best coaches in the world – Emery is paid north of 10 million pounds sterling per year – and gives him whatever he wants. This remains a risk but so far, he generously pays, with a villa still hunting on three fronts.
Forest has committed everything to stand in their first season after promotion and has brilliantly improvised since. Nuno hiring was an intelligent decision and low-cost signatures of Murillo, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Nikola Milenkovic and Anthony Elaga proved to be inspired.
Although they are trying to upgrade in all areas, the only option of these clubs is to continue the right job during training and on match days. Reconstruction is so much easier when it is undertaken from a position of strength.