Nottingham Forest are potentially two matches away from a first European trophy since the days of Brian Clough.
Vitor Pereira's side take a 1-0 aggregate lead into the second leg of their Europa League semi-final with Aston Villa on Thursday, leaving them tantalisingly close to a place in the final in Istanbul on May 20.
Forest famously won back-to-back European Cups under legendary manager Clough in 1979 and 1980, and the club's class of 2026 are channeling the spirit of their iconic predecessors nearly half a century later.
Who qualifies for Europe if Nottingham Forest win the Europa League?
Forest qualified for Europe thanks to a superb seventh-place finish in the Premier League last term, but they have spent this season battling relegation, while going through four permanent managers.
Despite their lowly position of 16th, they would still qualify for the Champions League if they win the Europa League - and that would impact teams towards the top of the table.
The Premier League has been awarded an extra Champions League place next term through UEFA's European Performance Spots (EPS), which reward the two leagues with the best overall record each season.
That means that if Forest win the Europa League, they will join the teams finishing in the top five of the Premier League in the continent's top club competition.
Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United have already secured Champions League qualification, while Liverpool and Villa need a maximum of four points from their final three league games to seal their place.
In this scenario, the teams who finish sixth and seventh in the Premier League - currently Bournemouth and Brentford, neither of whom have played in Europe before - would go into the Europa League and Conference League respectively.
The permutations of Forest winning the Europa League are complicated slightly by the FA Cup final between City and Chelsea on May 16.
The winners of the FA Cup are usually awarded a Europa League place, so if Chelsea - who are ninth in the Premier League - are victorious at Wembley then they would go into that competition as things stand.
However, if City lift the trophy, then their Europa League place would go to the team finishing seventh, with the Conference League spot dropping down to eighth, as Pep Guardiola's side have already confirmed Champions League qualification.
As things stand, that would secure Europa League football for Bournemouth and Brentford, with Brighton & Hove Albion in the Conference League.
This scenario would result in at least nine Premier League teams playing in Europe next term - six in the Champions League, two in the Europa League and one in the Conference League - and Crystal Palace could even take that number to 10 if they win the Conference League, thereby securing a Europa League place.
