Vitor Pereira’s Forest won 2-1 after extra-time at the MCH Arena in Denmark to level the tie at 2-2 on aggregate.
That set up the farcical shoot-out as Midtjylland’s Cho Gue-sung and Aral Simsir both hit the post before Edward Chilufya slipped and blazed over in the shoot-out.
Morgan Gibbs-White, Ibrahim Sangare and Neco Williams converted Forest’s three kicks to extend the club’s first European campaign since 1995-96, when they reached the Uefa Cup quarter-finals.
The Premier League strugglers will play Porto in the quarter-finals after the Portuguese outfit beat Stuttgart 2-0.
William Carvalho and Victor Froholdt netted to clinch Porto’s 4-1 aggregate victory, with Stuttgart’s Nikolas Nartey sent off in the closing stages.
Admitting he needed his players to be “fresh mentally and and physically”, Pereira prioritised Sunday’s vital clash with relegation rivals Tottenham as he made nine changes from last weekend’s 0-0 draw against Fulham.
Forest’s understudies rose to the challenge and took the lead in the 41st minute.
Climbing to meet Nikola Milenkovic’s flick, Nicolas Dominguez craned his neck to loop a header over Elias Olafsson from six yards.
Midtjylland were breached again in the 52nd minute when Ryan Yates lashed home from 25 yards before Martin Erlic’s 69th minute reply for the hosts set up the shoot-out.
“It’s important, the energy and spirit is different when we win,” Pereira said.
“I don’t have any doubt that we have the quality. We will compete for our targets.”
At Villa Park, Unai Emery’s side, defending a 1-0 first-leg lead, went ahead in the 54th minute with a perfectly executed route one move.
Emiliano Martinez launched a mammoth kick towards Jadon Sancho and his pass across the Lille penalty area was tucked away with aplomb by McGinn.
It was the Scotland midfielder’s first goal since January 3 after two months on the sidelines with a knee injury.
Leon Bailey’s 86th-minute tap-in from Ollie Watkins’ pass ensured Villa advanced to a European quarter-final for a third successive season.
Villa’s dismal run of two wins from 10 Premier League games has put their bid to qualify for the Champions League in jeopardy.
Yet they have thrived in continental action and Emery remains in contention for a fifth Europa League crown after winning three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal. (AFP)
Edited by Cecil Wong
