🔗 Share this article

“You’ll never sing that, champions of Europe,” was chanted around the stadium as Nottingham Forest supporters reveled in another success against their Swedish opponents. Much has happened since Trevor Francis’s winning header clinched the European Cup in the year 1979, but Forest still treasure those memories. Similarly, major changes have occurred in the weeks since Sean Dyche assumed control, with the team looking reinvigorated and securing a comfortable win courtesy of goals from Kalimuendo, Yates, and Milenkovic, boosting their prospects of advancing in the European competition.

Building Momentum with Third Straight Victory

For Forest, this performance – against a Malmö side that had been inactive for nearly a month after ending in sixth place in their domestic league – marked a third consecutive triumph across every tournament and further built on the positive energy gained from last weekend’s success at Anfield. While this fixture was a re-run of Forest’s historic success in name, the encounter itself was free of any real tension or jitters.

This was an event filled with nostalgia, an eagerly awaited reunion and the third meeting between the teams since the European Cup final over four decades past.

The home side leaned into the heritage, paying tribute to the heroes of 1979 by giving them, along with their Malmö opponents, the red-carpet treatment. 13 members of the Malmö's squad from that time were also in attendance. The two clubs shared a dinner together before the match. Forest legends and company received a tumultuous welcome when they assembled on the pitch a quarter of an hour before kick-off, and a typically impressive tifo was shown in the home stand.

Remembering the Past

“May 30, 1979, Robertson delivered the ball from the left,” read one part of a giant banner, in block capitals. While nobody needed reminding of what happened next, the rest was unfurled as the players emerged from the dressing rooms. “And there’s Francis,” it stated. A second stunning tifo showed Clough watching proceedings beside his assistant Taylor on a dugout at the Munich stadium.

Control from the Start

So, the hosts had soaked up those beautiful memories, but what about the performance on the evening? It was strong, too. They were in full command from the moment the forward whistled an effort off target inside two minutes and established a two-goal lead by the half-time interval. Nicolás Domínguez sent an early header off target and then Zach Abbott, on his first European start, had a go.

It felt fitting that Ryan Yates, who joined the club aged eight, made the first dent in the visitors' defence captained by their own academy product skipper, Jansson, formerly of Leeds and Brentford FC. The home defender Nikola Milenkovic saw a cross deflect off a opponent and into the pathway of Yates, who swept home with his right foot from just inside the penalty area to score his first goal since last March.

Second Strike Confirms Dominance

The scorer was implicated in Forest’s next goal on the brink of half-time, as well, his free header parried by the shot-stopper Ellborg but Kalimuendo poised to tap in the rebound from point-blank range. McAtee, the playmaker handed a seldom start and only his second outing since the autumn, was the spark, lofting a delicious ball towards Yates at the far post.

A minute earlier, Hudson-Odoi’s low effort was turned wide off Malmö back Rösler, the son of ex- Manchester City forward Uwe Rösler, and an free the defender had earlier had a powerful header instinctively repelled by the keeper, who returned in place of the ex- Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen.

Malmö’s Struggles

This was the Swedish side's initial game since the domestic league concluded on 9 November, and they struggled to equal the home team's intensity. The Reds extended the lead to three when the defender applied the finishing touch after his defensive colleague Murillo kept alive a corner. The captain had a shot blocked, but the Serbian defender Milenkovic feasted on the rebound.

Forest then went for the jugular, with Hudson-Odoi chipping a effort on to the bar before Ibrahim Sangaré sent an ambitious shot wide from 30 yards. It was one of those evenings. Dyche, mindful of Sunday’s domestic fixture here against Brighton, made multiple alterations from the team that stunned the Reds at their ground last weekend, when they additionally netted three times, though he introduced Elliot Anderson, Dan Ndoye and Igor Jesus midway through the second half.

Smooth Night for the Team

It proved a flawless evening for Forest. The coach could take off the defender with the game already sewn up and later brought on 19-year-old full-back Sinclair for his senior bow. He talked about the club legends providing “bits of gold” at weekly get-togethers and, nearly fifty years on, the present squad demonstrated they are capable of a few nuggets of thrills, as well.