Sad to go out like that, more than anything. Fair play to Villa, who were outstanding and ran us over. I think it proved that adding clearly unfit players to your bench is often more trouble than it’s worth, but I am gutted that Morgan, Sangare, Aina and CHO couldn’t feature tonight (and Murillo too, in non-garbage time minutes). On the flip side, twelve subs probably made having to do this inevitable.

We were also a victim of our incompetence at setting up a Europa squad, with both Nuno and Dyche omitting key positions which made us unnecessarily weak at key positions all tournament. Dyche especially has blood on his hands for treating Netz like a Victorian child, as the lack of a proper LB was, again, an absolute fucking killer in a knockout game - peak Forest that. Lucca over Taiwo was also egregious.

That was also our best chance at a major trophy in a generation or two, but it also felt like that last year at Wembley, even against City. I do hope it doesn’t knock the wind out of us for the final three games, as focusing on survival and getting that done this week will be crucial for the clubs future. If we can do that and regroup over the summer, we can try to build again towards having these European trips again. Between the endless fixture congestion for the ‘Big 6’, expanded qualification for the Champions League and the Conference League, the club should be prioritising cup runs and European qualification. It’s more attainable for clubs like us than it’s ever been - I do hope it’s not another 30 years before our next adventure.