Nottingham Forest v Porto: Europa League quarter-final, second leg – live

Key events

Nottingham Forest make five changes from last week’s starting XI. Neco Williams, Ibrahim Sangaré, Omari Hutchinson, Jair Cunha and Ola Aina come in for Morato, Ryan Yates, James McAtee, Dilane Bakwa and Zach Abbott. Elliott Anderson misses the game after the passing of his mother; he had been suspended for last week’s first leg.

Porto make one change from last week. Alberto Costa replaces the injured Martim Fernandes, scorer of that unfortunate long-range own goal in the first leg. Followers of the Premier League will spot some old friends in the Porto squad: Thiago Silva won the Champions League and Club World Cup with Chelsea back in 2021, Jan Bednarek spent eight years at Southampton between 2017 and 2025, and Jakub Kiwior is currently on loan from Arsenal.

The teams

Nottingham Forest: Ortega, Cunha, Murillo, Williams, Aina, Gibbs-White, Sangare, Dominguez, Ndoye, Hutchinson, Wood.
Subs: Sels, Willows, Morato, Hudson-Odoi, Jesus, Lucca, Yates, McAtee, Bakwa, Milenkovic, Abbott, Sinclair.

Porto: Diogo Costa, Alberto Costa, Thiago Silva, Bednarek, Zaidu, Fofana, Rosario, Veiga, Gomes, Moffi, Sainz.
Subs: Ramos, Joao Costa, Kiwior, Froholdt, Pepe, Prpic, Varela, Gui, Tiago Silva, Bras, Moura, Mora.

Preamble

Six months ago this happened …

… which has got to augur well for Nottingham Forest (even if it didn’t serve as much of a promising harbinger for poor old Sean Dyche). Throw in the fact that Porto have played 24 competitive matches in England and have yet to win one (D3 L21) and all signs point to YES for Vítor Pereira and his charges. The winner of this tie gets to play the victor of Aston Villa and Bologna, and the prospect of an ATVLand rammy for a place in the final is almost too much excitement for a brain to contain. So come on Forest, giddy up Villa, let’s make this happen. Kick-off is at 8pm BST, with the scores level at 1-1 after the fiasco-tinged first leg. It’s on!

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2026/apr/16/nottingham-forest-v-porto-europa-league-quarter-final-second-leg-live