Key events
16 mins: Sangare produces a lovely bit of skill, beating two players in one go, to sum up the Forest superiority.
14 mins: I can’t imagine how loud it will become in the stadium when Fenerbahce string two passes together for the first time.
12 mins: Gibbs-White swings in the free-kick from the left after some argy-bargy in the box. The Forest skipper puts too much on the cross and it flies out of play.
10 mins: Hudson-Odoi is cleaned out for a cynical challenge from Skriniar. It’s a miserable challenge and he is rightly booked.
Meanwhile, Anderson is down with a hand/wrist problem.
8 mins: Forest are certainly on top at the moment and Hutchinson is looking far more confident than he did against Wolves.
Fenerbahce have offered next to nothing.
6 mins: Our man in Istanbul Ben Fisher has confirmed it’s very loud in the ground.
4 mins: Forest are looking positive and Hutchinson sends in a decent cross to the back post. The players in redare looking pretty jolly.
2 mins: Every Forest touch is being booed. It sounds quite deafening.
Forest have a corner on the left. Ederson punches clear and Fenerbahce eventually clear the ball to end the hissing.
Kick-off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
“Forest have picked a tough place for a managerial Bosphorus bounce!” according to Peter Oh. “I wonder when Marinakis will be able to kick his habit of firing managers. Could he go cold Turkey today?”
Simon Frank makes a good point: “The Forest fan pictured is Ebby from Duisburg, who makes the trip over from Germany with astounding frequency.”
I was at Dyche’s final game in charge and Omari Hutchinson was underwhelming, to say the least. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to the new regime.
Pereira: “Today is three days working. but working to play in a way to try short communications, be very clear. Today I hope that I see my team play organised with tactical organisation, and be able to express themselves, play with courage and a mentality to win.”
There’s nothing to fear except fear itself.
Around 1200 Forest fans have travelled to Istanbul, which is a great effort. A long way to go at relatively short notice.
Cuddly toys on tour.
The Fenerbahce lineup is everything you want it to be … full of former Premier League players. Nelson Semedo is top of the list for me but I assume we all have a personal preference.
And a personal good luck from me.
Pereira goes with the strongest side available to him, eager to see what his players can do and showing Evangelos Marinakis he is taking the competition very seriously.
Ederson is in goal for Fener, meaning it is the former Manchester City goalkeeping bull pen on show, with Stefan Ortega down the other end.
Starting lineups
Fenerbahce (3-4-3): Ederson; Skriniar, Jayden, Mert; Semedo, Guendouzi, Kante, Talisca; Asensio, Cherif, Kerem
Subs: Tarik, Engin Can, Brown, Caglar, Yigit Efe, Ismail, Levent, Fred, Nene, Oguez, Alaettin
Forest (4-2-3-1): Ortega; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Sangare, Anderson; Hutchinson, Gbbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Jesus
Subs: Gunn, Willows, Morato, Ndoye, Dominguez, Lucca, Yates, Cunha, McAtee, Bakwa, Abbott
Preamble
Vitor Pereira has survived four days in charge at Nottingham Forest, earning him a chance of managing the team for the first time tonight. He is here to keep Forest in the Premier League, so it will be interesting to see how seriously he takes the Europa League.
He had a spell at Fenerbahce, so will know how hostile the atmosphere can be in Istanbul.
Ben Fisher has written about his latest adventure.
Kick-off: 5.45pm GMT
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2026/feb/19/fenerbahce-v-nottingham-forest-europa-league-playoff-first-leg-live
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