This is Fiorentina's fourth consecutive quarter-final in the Conference League, having never previously lost at this stage.

La Viola have won ten of their 11 European quarter‑finals, with the only exception being a 3-1 aggregate defeat by Celtic in the 1969-70 European Cup.

If they beat Crystal Palace tonight, they will have to do so without top scorer Moise Kean who is unable to feature due to shin pain.

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Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter at the Estadio do Dragao

Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira came out of the tunnel for some pre-match media duties and got a very warm welcome from the Porto fans already in the stadium.

He was the last Porto coach to win back-to-back league titles.

A few minutes later, the stadium big screens play a montage of his success as manager at the club and he is presented with a Porto shirt with his picture on the back.

They may not be cheering him come full time if Forest come away with victory.

Pat Nevin
Former Chelsea winger on BBC Radio 5 Live

Aston Villa have got a fantastic run in haven't they? They could get into a European final, and then they can stay in the top four/five for Champions League for next season. They are in the box seat to do both and they are getting players back fit.

BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Radio 5 live will be on hand to provide full commentary of Aston Villa's trip to northern Italy this evening.

Tune in from 19:00 BST for build up, as well as updates from Nottingham Forest's visit to Porto, and Crystal Palace's Conference League quarter-final first leg against Fiorentina.

Bologna's Stadio Renato Dall'Ara looks pretty cool.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Vicki Sparks
BBC Radio 5 Live commentator at Estadio Renato Dall'Ara

Aston Villa have already beaten Bologna this season, who sit eight in Serie A, in the Europa League league phase this campaign, 1-0 at Villa Park. Since then the Italians are unbeaten in 11 games in Europe.

Unai Emery, who is looking to win this competition for a record extending fifth time as a manager, has warned that Bologna will be intense and aggressive.

Aston Villa have reached a European quarter-final for a third consecutive season, knocking out Lille in 2023-24 in the Conference League and losing 5-4 on aggregate to PSG in last season's Champions League.

In the Uefa Cup/Europa League, it’s their first since 1997-98 against Atletico Madrid (2-2 on aggregate, lost on away goals).

Bologna boss Vincenzo Italiano makes three changes to the side that defeated Cremonese 2-1 on Sunday.

Torbjorn Heggem, Tommaso Pobega and Scotland midfielder Lewis Ferguson come in while English winger Jonathan Rowe also start for the Serie A side.

Bologna XI: Ravaglia, Joao Mario, Heggem, Lucumi, Miranda, Freuler, Ferguson, Pobega, Bernardeschi, Castro, Rowe.

Subs: Moro, Orsolini, Casale, Zortea, Odgaard, Sohm, Pessina, Cambiaghi, Castaldo, Franceschelli.

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery makes two changes to the side that defeated West Ham 2-0 in their last outing on 22 March - 18 days ago.

Youri Tielemans makes his first start since a 2-0 win against Newcastle on 25 January in Ross Barkley's place while Emi Buendía replaces Jadon Sancho.

Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Tielemans, Onana, McGinn, Rogers, Buendia, Watkins.

Subs: Bizot, Wright, Lindelof, Mings, Elliott, Garcia, Abraham, Luiz, Maatsen, Bailey, Bogarde.

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter at the Estadio do Dragao

Former Chelsea defender Thiago Silve starts for Porto along with ex-Southampton centre-back Jan Bednarek.

Ex-Norwich forward Borja Sainz is in attack for the hosts, who were beaten 2-0 by Nottingham Forest in October.

Porto XI: Diogo Costa, Fernandez, Silva, Bednarek, Zaidu, Fofana, Rosario, Gabriel Veiga, Sainz, Moffi, William Gomes.

Subs: Ramos, Joao Costa, Kiwior, Froholdt, Pepe, Alberto Costa, Prpic, Varela, Gul, Tiago Silva, Moura, Mora.

Chris Wood starts for Nottingham Forest after six months out injured.

The striker, who scored 20 goals last season, has not played for Forest since Ange Postecoglou's final game in October but returns in Portugal following a knee injury.

Dilane Bakwa, Dan Ndoye, Morato, Zach Abbott, James McAtee, Stefan Ortega and Ryan Yates also start in a much-changed line up.

Nottingham Forest XI: Ortega, Morato, Murillo, Abbott, Bakwa, Yates, McAtee, Gibbs-White, Dominguez, Ndoye, Wood.

Subs: Sels, Williams, Hudson-Odoi, Sangare, Igor Jesus, Lucca, Hutchinson, Milenkovic, Aina, Whitehall, Sinclair, Hanks

Crystal Palace are unbeaten in their last six Conference League matches (W3 D3).

The last time they lost in the competition was against Strasbourg in November during the League phase.

They are also unbeaten in their last four home games (W2 D2) and will be buoyed by tonight's sell-out crowd at Selhurst Park.

Image source, Getty Images

Oliver Glasner makes three changes to the Crystal Palace side that defeated AEK Larnaca three weeks ago.

Dean Henderson replaces Walter Benitez in goal, while Daniel Munoz comes in for Brennan Johnson.

With Jorgen Strand Larsen suspended, Jean-Philippe Mateta starts up front. Adam Wharton starts after recovering from an injury picked up during the international break.

Crystal Palace XI: Henderson, Munoz, Richards, Lacroix, Canvot, Mitchell, Wharton, Kamada, Sarr, Guessand, Mateta.

Subs: Benitez, Matthews, Lerma, Pino, Johnson, Clyne, Hughes, Sosa, Riad, Devenny, Cardines.

Image source, BBC Sport

Fiorentina boss Paolo Vanoli makes two changes to the side that beat Hellas Verona 1-0 in Serie A on Saturday.

Roberto Piccoli replaces the injured Moise Kean in attack, while Dodo comes in for Pietro Comuzzo in defence.

Fiorentina XI: De Gea, Dodo, Pongracic, Ranieri, Gosens, Fabbian, Fagioli, Ndour, Harrison, Piccoli, Gudmundsson.

Subs: Leonardelli, Christensen, Mandragora, Comuzzo, Fazzini, Kospo, Kouadio, Braschi, Balbo, Deli, Puzzoli.

Image source, BBC Sport

Chris Coles
BBC Radio 5 live reporter

A first European quarter-final for 30 years for Forest, their Europa League run has provided some light in what has otherwise been a bleak season.

Consecutive wins against Midtjylland in this competition and then Tottenham to ease Premier League relegation fears, means that not only have they got recent momentum, they can really have a go at the Dragao tonight.

Getting back to Nottingham with the tie still in the balance will go down as a job well done.

Tonight marks a return to club action for all three English teams following a two-week and, for some, emotional international break.

Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa last featured on 22 March while for Crystal Palace it was a few days before that.

We'll see tonight how fresh they are all feeling.

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Striker Chris Wood will end his six-month injury lay-off by returning to the Nottingham Forest squad in Porto.

The 34-year-old has been sidelined since October and had knee surgery in December but has travelled to Portugal for the first leg of Forest's Europa League quarter-final on Thursday.

He scored 20 goals as Forest finished seventh in the Premier League last season but has managed just four in 13 games during an injury-hit campaign.

Wood last played for Forest when Ange Postecoglou was in charge and was unavailable during Sean Dyche's 114-day reign before Pereira replaced him in February.

The New Zealand international has made two appearances for Forest's Under-21 side as he stepped up his recovery, including scoring in a 3-0 win over Newcastle last month.

Striker Jorgen Strand Larsen is suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards which means Jean-Philippe Mateta is likely to start up front on Thursday evening.

Palace manager Oliver Glasner said: "JP played the full 90 minutes in an in-house game, and scored three goals, so he seems to be ready!

"He was out for six weeks in total where he couldn’t train with us and we had to build him up to being ready. I don’t know if he can play the full 90 minutes tomorrow.

"I expect the game to be a little bit more intense than the in-house game, but he had the full week with us in training and he trained last week with us, and he showed that he is ready to start."

Mateta was due to leave Palace in February but his move to AC Milan was called off because of issues with his medical.

The Frenchman was booed on his first appearance for the club since the failed move against AEK Larnaca last month.

Image source, Getty Images

We've had the Champions League quarter-final first legs. Now it's time for some Europa League and Europa Conference League last-eight ties.

Here's what's coming up this evening:

Europa League:

• Bologna v Aston Villa
• Freiburg v Celta Vigo
• Porto v Nottingham Forest

Europa Conference League

• Rayo Vollecano 3-0 AEK Athens
• Crystal Palace v Fiorentina
• Mainz v Strasbourg
• Shakhtar Donetsk v AZ

Three English teams in European quarter-final action this evening.

Let's get into it.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images