The prospect of playing at San Siro next season is something few Nottingham Forest fans would have envisaged. But the thought of that being followed up by a trip to Sincil Bank is one that nobody will want to consider.
No one at Forest would turn their noses up at playing Champions League football next season, but it is almost unthinkable to ponder the notion of being in the Championship at the same time. Tuesday night in Milan, followed by a Saturday 3pm kick-off at Lincoln City, who have just secured promotion from League One?
Tomorrow night, the City Ground will host one of the most significant fixtures of the modern era.
It will be up there with the play-off semi-final against Sheffield United in 2022, when Brice Samba’s penalty heroics secured passage to the Wembley final, where promotion was clinched. It may even eclipse the 1-0 win over Arsenal in May 2023 that all but secured Premier League safety. There have also been famous wins over Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United, too.
In what is only the club’s fifth European quarter-final, the tie against Porto is 1-1 after the first leg. Forest are 90 minutes away from what would be their fourth European semi-final, which would probably be against Aston Villa, who lead Bologna 3-1 ahead of their home leg.
The Porto game is a sellout, the kind of night where lifelong memories can be forged.
At half-time, Tony Woodcock, one of the Miracle Men who won back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980, will be presented with his long-overdue winners’ medal for the part he played in winning the second trophy. He featured in four of the nine games Forest played to retain the trophy, before signing for Cologne — his departure upset manager Brian Clough, and he never received a second winner’s medal, until now. John McGovern, who captained that side, will hand it over.
Like Forest, Porto have won the European Cup twice. Most recently in 2004, when it had become the Champions League and under the stewardship of a certain Jose Mourinho.
Vitor Pereira helped Porto to win this competition, the Europa League, in 2011, when he was assistant manager to Andre Villas-Boas. He is craving the chance to win it as a head coach.
Vitor Pereira (right) was assistant to Andre Villas-Boas when Porto won the Europa League in 2011 (Joern Pollex/Bongarts/Getty Images)
But the Forest head coach understands the bigger picture. The visit of struggling Burnley on Sunday could be just as — if not more — significant because Pereira does not want Forest to be in the Championship and the Champions League.
“I want to keep my club in the Premier League and to fight to achieve the final,” he said after the 1-1 draw in Porto. “I want to win (the competition). I had it as an assistant coach, but I want to win the Europa League as a head coach.
“But if we are not in the Premier League, it will be a disaster. A disaster I don’t want to have the responsibility for.”
So, as Pereira prepares his side, he will still do so with one eye on the weekend.
In Porto, he named a starting XI that included only two players — Morgan Gibbs-White and Murillo — who subsequently started the 1-1 draw with Villa at the weekend. Should he do something similar tomorrow?
“Forest fans might not fully appreciate it now, but in a few years we’ll look back and realise just how rare this moment is,” says Mikey Clarke, a regular on the Forest Focus podcast. “Effectively a one-off game for a place in the last four — and suddenly you’re three matches from European glory.
“That perspective is being blurred by our league struggles. Burnley is massive for the here and now — arguably bigger in terms of short-term stability. But let’s be honest: are Forest guaranteed to be a Premier League club for the next 20 years? History says no. We’ve spent most of the past few seasons fighting relegation.
“But how often does a club like Forest get within touching distance of a European final? Opportunities like this don’t come around often. Porto isn’t just another game; it’s a genuine chance to do something special. Go full strength, no regrets, no excuses.”
Greg Mitchell is a member of the fan group Forza Garibaldi, who regularly produce tifo displays before big games. Their most recent was in honour of a six-year-old Forest fan called Noah, who recently overcame leukaemia.
Forest fans with their latest tifo against Villa (Maynard Manyowa/News Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“I suppose it is a gauge of the importance of the recent games… we earmarked Aston Villa as being the game where we wanted to do a display. We could have done it for Porto, but we felt the Villa game was so important,” says Mitchell.
Forza do plan to do something on a small scale for the Porto game, while Sunday’s visit of Burnley will see their annual flotilla of boats on the River Trent beforehand.
“If you play your best players and win in Europe, there is a good chance that you play well against Burnley,” says Mitchell. “If you do not pick a strong side, there is a good chance that you end up playing another 30 minutes of extra time after you have brought all the normal starting XI on anyway.
“You treat the two games as equals, even if we all know what the priority is: being in the Premier League. The quarter-final is our biggest game of the season, until we play Burnley in what will then be our biggest game. Vitor is still looking for his first home win — getting that would be a big step ahead of Burnley.”
Andy Cadell is a board member of the Forest Supporters Trust. “This will be the fifth European quarter-final we have been in,” he says. “It does not happen very often. However, the way in which football has changed means that staying in the Premier League is more important. Burnley is a bigger game.
“We might need 40 points to survive. Burnley is the game where you think we can get three points, then you find yourself thinking about where you can pick up another three or four. Bournemouth at home on the last day of the season? We do not want to be needing to beat them in our final game, do we? They are our latest bogey side.
“If we go out against Porto in the quarter-final, that would be no disgrace. I am a romantic; it would be tremendous to go to Istanbul again for the final. But if I had to pick, I would take three points against Burnley.”
Pereira’s instructions from Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis have been clear: avoiding relegation is the priority. But Pereira’s challenge is to keep the European dream alive at the same time — and ensure this is not the last of the big nights at the City Ground.