Nottingham Forest have been drawn to face Fenerbahce in the Europa League knockout play-offs.
The two-legged play-off — to be played on February 19 and 26 — will mark Forest’s first-ever matches against the Turkish Super Lig side. Sean Dyche’s team will play the return leg at the City Ground, as a result of being a seeded team in the draw.
Forest beat Ferencvaros 4-0 in Thursday’s league-phase finale to move up to 13th in the 36-team standings. That placed them in a pot alongside Viktoria Plzen as a seeded pairing, with Greek club Panathinaikos their other possible opponents.
Forest, in their first European campaign since the UEFA Cup in 1995-96, will face Real Betis or FC Midtjylland in the round of 16, should they beat Fenerbahce over the two legs.
Scottish champions Celtic, meanwhile, will face Bundesliga side Stuttgart in the play-offs.
Celtic managed to rescue a spot inside the top 24 of the league phase, finishing 21st as they beat Utrecht 4-2 on Thursday. They are once again led by Martin O’Neill, following the sacking of Wilfried Nancy after just 33 days in charge, and drew 2-2 with Bologna, despite being down to 10 players for the majority of the match, in their penultimate league phase match.
Celtic missed the chance to come up against their former striker Robbie Keane in the play-offs. Keane, the head coach of Ferencvaros, will face Ludogorets, who were alongside Celtic in their unseeded pot. Keane spent six months at Celtic on loan during his playing career in 2010, scoring 16 goals in 19 matches.
Due to both being placed on the same side of the draw, Celtic and Forest could potentially meet in the quarter-finals, should they both win their play-offs and then round-of-16 ties.
Ahead of the draw, UEFA’s deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti expressed condolences towards Greek club PAOK, after seven fans died in a minibus crash in Romania on Tuesday on their way to the Europa League game against Lyon. PAOK were drawn to face La Liga side Celta Vigo.
Aston Villa, who finished second in the league phase behind Lyon on goal difference, will learn their round of 16 opponents when the draw takes place following the play-off fixtures. PAOK, Celta Vigo, Lille and Crvena Zvezda are their possible opponents.
Analysis of Forest’s draw
By Nottingham Forest correspondent Paul Taylor
Forest’s goal was always to secure a trip to Istanbul in the Europa League — the city will host the final in May.
But they will now head there next month to face Fenerbahce, who are second in the Super Lig under Dominico Tedesco, in the play-off round.
If they do manage to progress by winning the tie, Forest would then face one of two teams they have already faced — either Danish surprise package Midtjylland or Spanish side Real Betis — in the round of 16.
Forest, then managed by Ange Postecoglou, were beaten 3-2 by Midtjylland at the City Ground, with the Danish side going on to finish third in the league phase. Forest played rather better in Seville, but were held to a 2-2 draw by Betis, in what was the club’s first away trip since securing a first return to European competition in 30 years.
“We take the Europa League seriously, and I think we’ve made it clear we want to do well in it. It has not been easy through various games, the schedule, planning, travelling and all that sort of stuff,” said Forest manager Sean Dyche following the 4-0 win over Ferencvaros at the City Ground last night.
“The mentality is growing here and we need to keep fuelling it. The Premier League is the bread and butter and it’s about finding the balance.”
This is Forest’s first European football since 1996, when they reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, before being beaten by Bayern Munich. Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis sanctioned a £200million 13-player recruitment campaign in the summer, with the intention of equipping Forest with sufficient squad depth to compete.
Thousands of Forest fans have flocked to Seville, Graz, Utrecht and Braga for the away games so far and many more will travel to Istanbul next month.
Europa League play-off fixtures
- Dinamo Zagreb vs Genk
- SK Brann vs Bologna
- Ludogorets vs Ferencvaros
- Celtic vs Stuttgart
- Panathinaikos vs Viktoria Plzen
- Fenerbahce vs Nottingham Forest
- PAOK vs Celta Vigo
- Lille vs Crvena zvezda
Europa League key dates
Knockout phase play-offs: February 19 & 26
Round of 16: March 12 & 19
Quarter-finals: April 9 & 16
Semi-finals: April 30 & May 7
Final: May 20
When is the Europa League last-16 draw?
Yes, there will be another draw, following the conclusion of the play-offs to determine who plays who in the round of 16.
That draw — taking place on February 27 — will provide a finalised picture of how the knockout stage of this season’s Europa League will play out.
Where is the Europa League final?
The Europa League final, slated for May 20, is set to take place at Besiktas Park in Istanbul, Turkey.
That is — as you may have guessed — the home of Super Lig side Besiktas. The venue, which has a capacity of around 40,000, hosted the Super Cup in 2019, in which Champions League winners Liverpool beat Europa League winners Chelsea 5-4 on penalties, following a 2-2 draw.