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Aina Injured and Atubolu Beaten as Nigerian Stars Feature in European Semifinals

Posted : 01 May 2026

The first leg of the UEFA Europa League and Conference League semifinals featured several players of Nigerian descent on Thursday night. Nottingham Forest secured a vital 1-0 victory over Aston Villa at the City Ground to take a slim lead into the second leg. Super Eagles defender Ola Aina started the match but his night ended in frustration after he was forced off with a suspected injury.

Aina appeared to be in significant pain and received treatment on the pitch before being replaced by Zach Abbott in the 75th minute. Chris Wood scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot shortly after the substitution to hand Forest the advantage. The victory puts the Tricky Trees in a strong position but Aina remains a major doubt for the return fixture.

In Portugal, Nigerian prospect Noah Atubolu experienced a rollercoaster evening as SC Freiburg fell to a 2-1 defeat against Sporting Braga. The goalkeeper initially looked like a hero after saving a first-half penalty from Rodrigo Zalazar to keep the scores level. However, a stoppage-time error proved costly for the Bundesliga side as they conceded late in the game.

Mario Dorgeles capitalized on Atubolu's mistake two minutes into injury time to secure the win for the home side. Earlier in the match, Demir Ege Tiknaz had given Braga an early lead before Vincenzo Grifo equalized for Freiburg. Bruno Ogbus remained on the bench as an unused substitute for the German club throughout the encounter.

The Europa Conference League saw Crystal Palace dominate Shakhtar Donetsk with a 3-1 victory in Poland. Ismaïla Sarr made history by scoring after just 21 seconds to record the fastest goal in the history of the competition. Prosper Obah was left on the bench for the Ukrainian side as they struggled to contain the English Premier League outfit.

Finally, Maxi Oyedele made a brief cameo for Strasbourg in their 1-0 loss to Rayo Vallecano in Spain. The young midfielder entered the fray deep into stoppage time but received a yellow card almost immediately after his introduction. Rayo Vallecano now hold a narrow lead thanks to a headed goal from Alemão in the 54th minute.

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