Key events
One Forest first-XIer who doesn’t drop top the bench is Elliot Anderson. On the one hand, I’m certain the manager would like to rest him for the league but, on the other, he can’t run the risk of letting this get close, never mind actually lose, and I guess Anderson and Murillo are the players he reckons he most needs to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Fener, meanwhile, are in the midst of an injury crisis – Ederson, Oosterwolde and the one and only Caglar Soyuncu are out so yes, that is indeed Matteo Guendouzi whose name you see at centre-back – no doubt he already considers himself better than Beckenbauer. Otherwise, Ngolo Kanté is in midfield, while Marco Asensio and Nelson Semedo are on the bench.
Unsurprisingly, Vitor Pereira makes changes – six of them. Out go Milenkovic, Aina, Sangaré, Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White and Igor Jesus; in come Morato, Jair Cunha, Dominguez, McAtee, Yates and Lucca
Teams
Nottingham Forest (5-4-1): Ortega; Williams, Morato, Murillo, Jair Cunha, Hutchinson; McAtee, Anderson, Yates, Dominguez; Lucca. Subs: Gunn, Willows, Sangaré, Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Ndoye, Igor Jesus, Bakwa, Milenkovic, Ainoa, Abbott.
Fenerbahce (4-3-3): Tarık; Mert Müldür, Guendouzi, Yiğit Efe, Archie Brown; Kante, İsmail Yüksek, Oğuz Aydın; Nene, Cherif, Kerem Aktürkoğlu. Subs: Engin Can Biterge, Hulusi Ceylan, Asensio, Mercan, Nélson Semedo, Alettin Ekici, Kamil Efe Üregen.
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy)
Preamble
There’s something idyllic, cutesy and pure about a football team whose surname is “Forest” – just as there is about the surname “Marinakis”.
No one really wants to dwell on owners – frankly, they’re the opposite of why we’re here. But it’s impossible to talk about Forest without noting that, after they recorded the club’s finest season in generations, the manager who made it possible was binned, likewise his successor, and his successor.
As such, Forest now sit fifth-bottom of the Premier League … but they still boast almost all the players who did so well last season, along with the various they’ve added, Omari Hutchinson and Igor Jesus among them. Or, in other words, they’ve a serious chance of winning this competition, a solid defence, excellent midfield and reliable goalscorer giving them more than most, the combination ideal for knockout football.
Leading 3-0 from the first leg, Vitor Pereira’s boys look good to make the last 16, where Midtjylland or Real Betis await; the question really is whether he can stay in post long enough to preside over it.
Kick-off: 8pm GMT