Nottingham Forest will face a reunion with Midtjylland in the last 16 of the Europa League.
Forest will face the Danish side at the City Ground — where Midtjylland won 3-2 in the league phase of the competition in October — on Thursday, March 12 (8pm BST), before heading to Scandinavia for the second leg on March 19 (6.45pm local time, 5.45pm BST).
The winners of that tie will face the winners of Stuttgart’s game against FC Porto in the quarter-final stage, while the winners of that tie will play one of Aston Villa, Lille, Bologna or Roma in the semi-final.
Vitor Pereira’s side earned their place in the last 16 with a 4-2 aggregate win over Fenerbahce, despite losing 2-1 to the Turkish side at home on Thursday night.
The new head coach’s challenge continues to be sustaining a fight against relegation in the Premier League, while simultaneously looking to secure a return to Istanbul for the Europa League final in May.
Analysis
Forest secured their first return to Europe, after three decades away, when Nuno Espirito Santo led them to seventh place in the Premier League last season.
That already feels like a lifetime ago, with a whirlwind of change having swept along the banks of the Trent.
Forest’s last game against Midtjylland came under the brief tenure of Ange Postecoglou. Pereira is the fourth man to take charge this season, with Sean Dyche having subsequently replaced Postecoglou, before he himself departed in February.
While the priority is still to preserve the top-flight status that Forest fought so hard to secure through promotion via the play-offs in 2022, the club retain big ambitions on the European stage.
They will not face an easy challenge against Midtjylland, who have been a surprise package in the competition, finishing in third place in the league phase, after winning six of their eight games — and suffering only a single defeat, when they lost 2-1 at Roma in November.
If Forest can get their revenge, they would face Stuttgart or Porto in the quarter-final. Italian giants Roma and Premier League rivals Aston Villa are among their potential opponents in the semi-final, if they do manage to progress that far.
Europa League last-16 draw
- Ferencvaros vs Braga
- Panathinaikos vs Real Betis
- Genk vs Freiberg
- Celta Vigo vs Lyon
- Stuttgart vs Porto
- Nottingham Forest vs Midtjylland
- Bologna vs Roma
- Lille vs Aston Villa