FC Porto v Nottingham Forest: historic clubs meet at a legendary old ground | OneFootball

The third round of the Europa League brings together two of the oldest football clubs and two of the 13 clubs that have already triumphed twice in the European Cup. Starting at 8:00 pm, at City Ground and on Sport TV5, FC Porto and Nottingham Forest face each other for the first time in an official competition.

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The clubs, founded in 1893 and 1865, had only met once before – in August 1978, at the Torneio Cidade de Vigo – and nine months after that 1-0 defeat, the team led by Brian Clough won the European Cup in Munich. The “Reds” became European Champions for the second time the following year, while the Dragons achieved that distinction in 1987 and 2004.

Returning to international competitions three decades later, Nottingham Forest faces an opponent who leads the Portuguese Primeira Liga and remains unbeaten in the 2025/26 season. In eleven matches, FC Porto has recorded ten wins, one draw, 26 goals scored, and only two conceded – one own goal and another in the home match against Red Star (2-1).

The team led by Francesco Farioli shares the top spot in the group with the same number of points as Dinamo Zagreb, Midtjylland, SC Braga, Aston Villa, Lyon, and Lille, while the British side sits outside the playoff places (25th). The tickets made available by FC Porto sold out in just a few days, and it is expected that the away section of the legendary City Ground, Forest’s home since 1898, will be dominated by blue and white.

FC PortoIn the preview of “a game that will demand a great effort and excellent mentality,” Francesco Farioli highlighted the need for the players “to be as well prepared as possible and to step onto the pitch ready to compete,” viewing the match as “a great opportunity to show they are on the right path” and to prove they are “a group with a lot of desire.”

“We can’t compete with their investment, but we can fight with our spirit and mentality,” added the Italian coach, who assured that he had “analyzed all scenarios” ahead of “a game that will demand a lot of attention” against an opponent that “made a big investment in the summer” and that “even last year fought for fourth place in the Premier League and only missed out on the Champions League by one point.”

Alongside the coach, Jan Bednarek stated that “the team is excited and ready for the challenge” against “an opponent that plays in the best league in the world.” More “focused on the present and the future” than the past, the Polish international anticipated “a very demanding game” against “a very good team,” but emphasized that his teammates “understand the magnitude of the match” and are “ready for anything”: “We know their strengths and weaknesses, but the most important thing is us. We have to find solutions and I am sure we will find them.”

At East Midlands airport, between Birmingham and Nottingham, a delegation of 24 players landed – including Zaidu, already considered fit by the medical department. The FC Porto medical report lists only Nehuén Pérez and Luuk de Jong, both undergoing treatment and working in the gym.

Nottingham ForestThe “Tricky Trees” sold their most used player last season, receiving 60 million euros from Newcastle, but kept the backbone of the squad that finished the 2024/25 Premier League in seventh place – just one point off fifth – and still spent more than 230 million on 13 reinforcements from the English, French, Italian, and Brazilian leagues.

To compensate for the departures of Anthony Elanga and Jota Silva, key players in Nuno Espírito Santo’s system, Evangelos Marinakis’s management shelled out 43 million to Ipswich for Omari Hutchinson, 42 to Bologna and 35 to Strasbourg for the wingers Dan Ndoye and Dilane Bakwa, 30 to Rennes for striker Arnaud Kalimuendo, 25 to Manchester City for James McAtee, 40 to Botafogo for John Victor, as well as acquisitions for the center of defense and attack like Jair Cunha and Igor Jesus; they paid 16 million to Juventus for full-back Nicolò Savona and for the loan of midfielder Douglas Luiz, and also tried to secure the loan of the versatile Oleksandr Zinchenko from Arsenal.

With this transfer window, Forest formed the 13th most valuable squad currently, ahead of clubs like Atlético de Madrid, Juventus, Napoli, AC Milan, or Borussia Dortmund. Dan Ndoye has stood out and has been a regular choice, alongside goalkeeper Matz Sels, center-backs Nikola Milenković and Murillo, full-back Neco Williams, and midfielders Ibrahim Sangaré, Elliot Anderson, and Morgan Gibbs‑White. Among the forwards, Callum Hudson‑Odoi and Chris Wood stand out, the latter having scored 20 goals in the last English league season – only Salah (29), Isak (23), and Haaland (22) scored more.

Meanwhile, Nuno Espírito Santo left the helm, followed by Ange Postecoglou, and Sean Dyche took over the technical leadership of a team that has seven defeats and three draws in the last ten matches and has not won since August 17. In the first round of the Europa League, in Seville, Igor Jesus scored both goals that earned a draw against Real Betis (2-2) and in the second, against Midtjylland, Dan Ndoye and Chris Wood scored, but could not prevent the Danish victory in Nottingham (2-3).

Refereeing teamRomanian Radu Petrescu was appointed by the UEFA Referees Committee as the main referee. He will be assisted by compatriots Radu Ghinguleac and Ionut Neacsu, with Andrei Chivulete as the fourth official. The video assistant referee will also be Romanian, Cătălin Popa, assisted by Dutchman Pol van Boekel (AVAR).

This will be Radu Petrescu’s debut in matches involving FC Porto and Nottingham Forest. This season, the 42-year-old referee has already officiated matches in the Romanian League, the Europa League, the Champions League qualifiers, and the European qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.