Nottingham Forest of England defender, Ola Aina, is eagerly looking forward to his club’s prospects in the forthcoming season’s UEFA Europa League, Sports247 reports.
This is a sequel to heartwarming reports late Friday that the 1979 and 1980 European champions have been upgraded from the UEFA Conference League in place of Crystal Palace.
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Though Forest were originally billed for the third-tier continental competition after finishing seventh last season in the English Premier League, UEFA’s decision to demote Crystal Palace has favoured Aina and his colleagues.
Palace have to drop into the Conference League because they are owned by a major shareholder at Olympique Lyon of France, who also qualified for the Europa League, but two clubs under one management cannot feature in the same competition.
With all eyes at Forest’s City Ground now on the second-tier European clubs’ competition in the coming season, Aina admitted it is a very special moment for him and his colleagues to cherish.
“This is very special. The club has not been in Europe for ages,” said Aina gleefully, even as he admitted they have to face a tough task ahead.
“To be part of the group and the team that has finally done it is very special. It’s a challenge that everyone’s relishing and eager to get on with.”
