Tuesday’s briefing: Sels Forest’s cup hero as Arsenal and Villa focus on Europe

Penalty heroics from Matz Sels helped Nottingham Forest complete the FA Cup quarter-final line-up on Monday, but the focus for other Premier League clubs is back on Europe.

Arsenal and Aston Villa face tricky Champions League ties at PSV Eindhoven and Club Brugge respectively on Tuesday.

Matz of the Day

Matz Sels was the shoot-out hero for Forest on Monday night as they edged out league rivals Ipswich by a 5-4 score on penalties after it finished 1-1 following extra time.

Spot-kicks were required at the City Ground after George Hirst’s opener early in the second half for Town was followed by a 68th-minute leveller from Ryan Yates.

No further goals were forthcoming and after nine perfect penalties, Sels denied Jack Taylor to keep Nuno Espirito Santo’s team on course for a truly memorable campaign with a twin challenge of FA Cup success and Champions League qualification firmly on the cards.

Timber’s rallying cry

Arsenal’s FA Cup campaign ended in January and their Premier League title bid is all but over, but Jurrien Timber has urged his team-mates to change the narrative in the Champions League.

The Gunners are in the Netherlands for a last-16 first-leg clash against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday still without Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, while Kai Havertz will not play again this season.

After Arsenal fired blanks to drop points against West Ham and Nottingham Forest, full-back Timber has backed the squad to bounce back.

“Tomorrow is a beautiful game to change the narrative and to win,” the Dutch defender told a press conference on Monday.

“We have so much quality in our group. We have a lot of injuries, especially up front. We know that. But I think it is a beautiful challenge for us as a team to put our front players, or anyone, in the best position to score goals. Hopefully, we are going to show that.”

Villa looking to make ‘history’

Captain John McGinn senses an opportunity for Aston Villa to create history ahead of a midweek trip to Bruges.

Unai Emery’s side marched into the FA Cup last eight on Friday with a victory over Cardiff and will aim to secure a place in the Champions League quarter-finals across the next week with a two-legged last-16 tie with Club Brugge.

For a vastly experienced and optimistic McGinn, there is more to come from Villa.

“Being in the competition, we are contenders and going towards the end of the season, it’s brilliant that we’ve got so much to look forward to,” McGinn said.

“We’ve got an opportunity to make some history, but (there’s) a long, long way to go in each competition.

“And I think the exciting thing for us is we know we’ve not had top form yet. We’ve still got a lot more to give.”

What’s on today?

In addition to big European ties for Arsenal and Aston Villa, city rivals Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid lock horns at the Bernabeu for the first leg of a mouth-watering last-16 tie in a repeat of the 2014 final.

Back home there are four Championship fixtures with a six-pointer in the battle for survival as Plymouth come back down to earth after Saturday’s trip to Manchester City with an equally lengthy journey to relegation rivals Hull.

There is a full round of fixtures in League One and Two with Birmingham away to Bolton, while fourth-tier leaders Walsall head to Mark Hughes’ resurgent Carlisle.