Europa Fever

Nottingham Forest 1-0 Porto (UEFA Europa League Quarter Final)

Folklore will forever tell us that in 1979 and 1980 Nottingham Forest won back-to-back European Cups. I was too young to witness the early days of Brian Clough’s magnificent historical tenure, but I did get to watch his later years in charge, by which time English clubs were banned from Europe due to the Heysel Stadium disaster.

During that time, FC Porto won the first of their two European Cups in 1987, beating Bayern Munich 2-1 with late goals from Madjer & Juary, the great Artur Jorge was manager and Paolo Futre was their talisman.

And in 2004, the Special One, Jose Mourinho, led his Azuis e Brancos team to a 3-0 final win over Monaco. You could argue it’s the most recent case of a non-elite tier establishment taking home the trophy? Ever-since, the biggest prize of all has been wrestled across Europe’s top five leagues often won by posh high street brands like Real Madrid, Chelsea & PSG.

That power shift has long lessened the likes of Porto ever competing for the best continental prize again, but in the Europa League, a competition which they have also won twice, they certainly have a fighters chance, and are considered rightly as one of the best teams still in the competition.

Porto however are yet to beat Nottingham Forest. Under Sean Dyche, earlier in the season, the Reds beat tonight’s opponents 2-0 in the group stages at the City Ground, and in the quarter final first leg at the Estadio do Dragao, the Reds now under former Porto boss Vitor Pereira nicked a 1-1 draw, thanks largely to a ridiculous Martim Fernandes own goal, following a William Gomes early opener.

That leaves this tie on a knife edge, between two great old established brands of European pedigree. Forest who are in fact fighting relegation in the Premier League, along with Aston Villa are one of the tournament favourites due to the money and kudos that the Premier League clubs now have, it’s remarkable to think that the sixteenth best team in England is as highly regarded as the table topping team in Portugal, Porto sit five points above Sporting Lisbon and seven above Benfica in the race for their domestic title.

The Venue

The wife’s working in Dublin, so I’m getting the dog picked up at 6pm before heading down to the City Ground to cover this one on UEFA’s behalf, parking at the bottom of Melton Road for a quicker exit south, it’s a cloudy but cold evening so I’m walking down the Musters Road and through the foot traffic of fans queuing to get in the world renowned Trent Bridge Inn, passing those supping pints outside Bombay on Radcliffe Road, and eating Kebabs from Eva’s Grill, into the clubs car park via the Boot Room Bar where a DJ plays Spandau Ballet’s Just Can’t Get Enough as fans soak in the atmosphere whilst standing outside the boozer, I’m into the car park and at the doors of Main Reception, a knock on the UEFA office but nobody is there.

Luckily, they have left my pass on the side so I’m able to grab it, and walk over to the press lounge where I grab a bottle of water, before heading up the stairs of the Main Stand to the desks at the very back, where another scout who covers data and stats on a regular basis for UEFA introduces himself to me.

It’s packed with pundits, here are the likes of Lianne Sanderson and Dion Dublin on radio comms, Natalie Sawyer is sitting in front of me from TalkSport and Sky, Natalie Jackson of the local BBC News parks herself down, I’m not really taking any of it in as I’m too busy chatting to my new fellow scout friend, the time flying by as the teams finish their warm ups as we talk of matches past that we've covered, by now the stadium is full, but up where I’m sat, all I can see is a pitch down below, and a roof of the Peter Taylor Stand above. It does have a couple of TV’s however hanging up in front of me, which is a huge bonus for any highlights I may miss.

The Game

There’s a roar from both sets of supporters as the two teams enter the field and stand lined up in front our eyes whilst the competition anthem is played, the away following is loud but even their sound is drowned by Forest fans singing a magnificent rendition of Mull of Kintyre. The game kicks off into action with an electric atmosphere, you get the feeling of it being a really special night here tonight, but the possession-based style of both teams provides calm on the pitch, all be it, not for long.

Forest have started with Chris Wood up front tonight, he’s been out injured for most of the season and his absence in goalscoring has been a major factor why Forest have struggled in the Premier League. He started the last game against Porto but was subbed at half time, hardly looking ready, he had ten minutes or so at the weekend but tonight starts again, five minutes in he’s took a boot off Jan Bednarek on half way, a challenge that looks innocuous has Wood down injured, on repeat from the TV in front the studs to the knee could land Bednarek in trouble, and when a VAR check is signalled, it looks like an inevitable outcome for the former Southampton defender.

As the Referee runs to his monitor a large cheer from the Forest fans is heard, that gets even louder when a red card is issued, just eight minutes gone, Porto down to ten.

That leaves Francesco Farioli little time to adjust his settings, he moves Pablo Rosario (who I was really impressed with last week) from midfield to centre back, and all of a sudden, Forest have an advantage, and take full control, Igor Jesus replacing the injured (again) Chris Wood, and as Forest come forward, Morgan Gibbs-White lets fly, via a deflection the ball nestles home and the Reds have the lead, the City Ground erupts.

You feel if Forest go for the jugular now that Porto will simply cave in, it’s the home team flying with confidence and pushing for more, but that electric start dwindles into more possession based football, ‘keep the ball’ is key, Forest not to do anything silly.

There’s chances to double advantage as Murillo goes close, Hutchinson drives wide, Jesus heads over, but at half time you would take 1-0 with everything very much still to play for in the second half. No complacency, with just one goal in the game.

The Score

Ahead of the second half, Porto make four changes to completely shuffle their team shape and they have a real go at Forest as I say to my fellow scout “have they actually brought an extra player on?”.

At one stage Forest go forward and Porto counter, they hit the bar when William Gomes is left open alone and that urges Vitor Pereira to bring on an extra defender as Nikola Milenkovic is introduced for insurance. Forest wrestle back advantage with a shot well saved from Igor Jesus by Diogo Costa, but from that energetic beginning enthused by eleven v ten dominance, it all begins to feel a bit nervy, the away side growing in confidence as the hosts cling on to slender advantage, in aim to get to the finish line and settle on what they have already got.

Alan Varela hits a pot shot from range that cannons off the crossbar, Seko Fofana who is brilliant, fizzes a couple over as he beats himself up for not hitting target, but despite their efforts Porto run out of steam, late on Igor Jesus clips a crossbar with a deflected effort from a counter-attacking move, and thereafter, Forest keep the ball in the corner for a good three minutes of injury time, it never comes out, as the Referee picks it up, and blows for full time. Relief, Forest through, but it might have been a much longer night, had Porto kept eleven players on the field of play tonight.

The Stars

Porto gave it a real go in the second half, I was impressed with their left back Zaidu who defended well and bombed forward with pace and power until being subbed at half time, their best player on the night perhaps Seko Fofana, a player I loved when playing at Lens during their French title push in 2022/23, a box to box midfielder who did his very best to make up for the early loss of the extra number, he’s a terrific leader and Porto are lucky to have a player like him.

Another player who I highly rate is Pablo Rosario, who started the game in midfield, who played most of it at centre half, who ended it at right back, showing versatility and responsibility during testing times, whilst William Gomes, largely kept quiet by Neco Williams who was terrific at left back, but Gomes is a player, just twenty years old, who has huge potential to play at the very top of the global game.

Another elite star to come is Victor Froholdt who came on off the bench at half time, he worked tirelessly but with real quality from an advanced midfield position, a twenty year old Norwegian playmaker with a market value of €30m, I think Premier League clubs should be looking at him and Gomes, if they want to benefit from two of the best young players playing in European football right now.

As for Forest, whilst Neco Williams is becoming one of the best full backs around, they have the basis of a team that is organised and highly technical, Murillo and Jair Cunha are elegant defenders with class, Milenkovic and Morato more your usual head it and kick it kind of guys, in midfield I do think Sangare is the one who pulls the strings, take the Ivorian out of the heartbeat and the team looks much less stable, he controls the tempo and allows others to play.

Usually those others would include Elliot Anderson, special mention to him as he missed the game due to his mother sadly passing away, Morgan Gibbs-White in his absence, leading the Forest charge forward, his goal the difference, before celebrating with teammates whilst holding up a number eight shirt with the words ‘family first, we are all with you’.

The Verdict

Forest will now face Aston Villa over two legs in an all-Midlands Europa League semi-final that whets the appetite in these parts of the country, but first they host Burnley in more pressing matters, needing three points towards Premier League survival on Sunday.

They might have to do it without the likes of Chris Wood, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Murillo, who all picked up niggles, but they will be hoping regardless of which side they put out, it should be good enough to get the points they need, to keep them in the division.

For Porto, focus now on domestic success, they are used to falling in the European later stages, what they really want is adding to their 30 Primeira Liga titles and topping the likes of Sporting and Benfica to be standout Portugal’s best, again.

The Teams

Nottingham Forest: Stefan Ortega, Ola Aina, Jair Cunha, Murillo (Morato 72), Neco Williams, Ibrahim Sangare, Nico Dominguez, Omari Hutchinson (Callum Hudson-Odoi 46 (Dilane Bakwa 72)), Morgan Gibbs-White, Dan Ndoye (Nikola Milenkovic 65), Chris Wood (Igor Jesus 16).

Porto: Diogo Costa, Alberto Costa (Victor Froholdt 46), Thiago Silva, Jan Bednarek, Zaidu (Francisco Moura 46), Seko Fofana, Pablo Rosario, Gabriel Veiga (Jakub Kiwior 46), William Gomes, Terem Moffi (Deniz Gul 66), Borja Sainz (Alan Varela 46).

8:00pm Kick Off. Thursday 16th April 2026, City Ground, Nottingham (att 29,560).