Nottingham Forest are within touching distance of making their European dream a reality as the run-in approaches.
When they return from the international break, the Reds will have nine Premier League games remaining to get over the line in their quest for Champions League football. It has been an incredible season for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side so far and they will want to finish it in style.
Third-placed Forest are in a good position heading into the final weeks of the campaign but it remains incredibly close in the upper echelons of the table. Fifth spot is likely to be good enough for a Champions League place and the Reds have a six-point cushion over fifth-placed Manchester City. However, teams as far down as Bournemouth - in 10th and just four points below the reigning champions - still have designs on getting into Europe.
Throughout the season, head coach Nuno has remained focused on taking it one game at a time. But what have his Champions League-chasing counterparts had to say about Forest and the battle at the top end of the table? Below, NottinghamshireLive takes a look.
Enzo Maresca (Chelsea)
On aiming to finish in the Champions League spots after losing 1-0 to second-placed Arsenal before the international break…
What I can say about the first game against Arsenal and today’s game, I don’t see a big difference between us and them,” the Blues manager told the club’s website. “Since I arrived, I have the feeling we are in the right path, and we are very close. Probably we just need that step forward to compete in these kind of games, but that step comes also with finishing in a Champions League spot.”
On top-four expectations amid Forest flying high…
“I didn’t say our target was top four. The club never told me the target was top four,” he told Chelsea News in February.
“When I signed here, the target was in two years playing in the Champions League, not in one year. This is why I have said many times we are above my expectation.
“Nottingham Forest are doing fantastic, very good, so congratulations to them. We will see how we finish.
“We will see how we finish. The good thing about me is I’m not saying something different to you today that I said one month ago. Since day one, I’ve always said the same: I’m not looking at May or June, I’m looking game by game how we can improve – and only that. We will see at the end of the season.”
Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
On respecting Forest and Brighton after City’s 2-2 draw with the latter prior to the break…
"I'm always confident - in that I am a master,” the City boss told the BBC of his team’s Champions League qualification chances. “I do have moments (when) I can doubt but I find the right way, the positiveness in everything.
"It is harder to get top four than people think and I respect Nottingham (Forest) and Brighton. I know it will be difficult for many reasons but we have nine games, nine finals."
On Forest’s position in the table after their 1-0 win over City earlier this month…
"There are 10 games left,” Guardiola said. “To be in the position they are, it is because they are good.”
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Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United)
On the Magpies pushing for a top-four finish…
“We’ll enjoy the occasion but the most important thing is that we’ve got 10 games left and we want to finish in the top four,” the Newcastle defender told The Guardian after last weekend’s Carabao Cup success. “You don’t want to get carried away. It’s all about building and we’ve got a big run-in ahead.”
Tony Bloom (Brighton and Hove Albion)
On a crucial period for the Seagulls with an FA Cup quarter-final at home to Forest to come…
“It's going to be potentially the biggest two months that the football club has ever had, with the FA Cup, a reasonably kind draw, a lot of the big teams out and we're really pushing on for top five,” the Albion chairman told The Argus.
“We have just got to keep it going. The form is brilliant.
“Fabian Hurzeler (Brighton boss) has settled in really, really well this season and we're getting a few players back. We've had a lot of injuries all season, but a lot of them getting fit now. So perfect timing.”
Marco Silva (Fulham)
On the battle to secure European football…
"We are fighting,” the Cottagers boss told the BBC after his team’s 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur last time out. “We are fighting for something that, first of all, was our goal from the beginning of the season - to be in the top half of the table.
"We wanted to finish in the top half of the table. Of course, if you can fight for other places then we are going to fight really hard.
"We know the type of competition we have in front of us. The fight is there, the possibility is there and we are going to face every single game like the most important game.
"I don't like the 'if' in football. It doesn't exist for me. I like the present and look to the future. We are really going to fight hard and improve many things before we think about what is going to happen at the end of the season.”
On Forest’s threat before facing them at Craven Cottage…
"They are really strong on the counter-attack,” Silva said. “They are a team that, if the game is completely open and if you are not balanced, they are capable to punish you.
"When you are able to put together, in the same team, Danilo, (Elliot) Anderson and (Morgan) Gibbs-White, and with (Anthony) Elanga and (Callum) Hudson-Odoi, all in the same XI, these type of players, and with the striker (Chris Wood) that is completely on fire, for sure the best season of his career in the Premier League, of course, everything together makes them be really confident."
Unai Emery (Aston Villa)
On aiming to be in the Champions League again next season…
“To play in this Champions League has been fantastic but my objective is to try to be playing consistently in the Champions League,” the Villa boss told the Daily Mail. “To stay at this level is difficult. This is the challenge I have.
“I know where the club was after they won the European Cup. They were for a long time not achieving the demands we are now setting in the club. Of course everything we are doing now is important. But I want more.”
On whether the traditional order at the top end of the table is changing…
“It is not changing. When I arrived here, my thoughts were that it is the most difficult league,” Emery told the Villa website in December. “A lot of teams have capacity, with good players, good coaches and good history. Different moments for different teams.
“Now is the moment for Nottingham Forest, but their history is a huge history in the Premier League and even in Champions League, with two wins. Bournemouth now as well, are performing very well. There are a lot of teams now getting more points than normal.
“Those points they are getting is because the quality of the teams and players is very high. The league is a very interesting league, very motivating for us, each match how we can get points and be better. Now we are sixth, we are trying to focus each match, be consistent.”
Bill Foley (Bournemouth)
On pushing for the Champions League…
“I know I can reach it, maybe not this year, but I know we will be there,” the Cherries owner told talkSPORT last week. “I know we'll be in the top five at some time in the future.
“I kind of had next year pencilled in as opposed to this year but we're doing well and we just have to win games now, don't we? If we win games, everyone be happy and it will be wonderful for Bournemouth and the fans to have to play in Europe. We have never done it before and I just think it would be such an achievement and an accomplishment.”
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