A Nottingham Forest supporter has tragically died following his side’s Europa League quarter-final clash against FC Porto. Vitor Pereira’s side faced the Portuguese outfit at the Estadio do Dragao on Thursday evening. The supporter was reported to be 84 years old and of English nationality.
According to Portuguese media, alarm was raised shortly after midnight and, despite attempts at resuscitation, the man was pronounced dead in Praca General Humberto Delgado in central Porto. It is believed the supporter died of natural causes, with no suggestion of any criminal involvement.
The body was removed by the Porto Volunteer Firefighters and transported to the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences in Porto, where a post-mortem examination will be conducted.
The relevant authorities will also inform the British consular services of the fatality.
Forest secured a 1-1 draw to take back to the East Midlands ahead of next week’s second leg at the City Ground. Both goals came in the first half, with the hosts gifting their opponents the equaliser.
Reflecting on the match, Pereira, who made nine changes to his starting line-up ahead of Sunday’s pivotal Premier League fixture against Aston Villa, said: “A good result, in my opinion.
“To face two competitions we need to play with everyone. The players that started today did good work.
“In the end, 1-1, the game is open to play at home and decide qualification. Porto playing at home are a strong team.
“They have momentum with supporters. With Forest I try to balance the two competitions; it was very clear, we played with nine different players to the last game.
“I think we did well. The players tried everything; 1-1 is a good result and playing at home we will see what we can do.”