Nottingham Forest’s seventh-placed finish last season saw the club qualify for Europe for the first time in a generation.
A Uefa Cup quarter-final defeat to Bayern Munich on March 19, 1996 was Forest’s last match in Europe and over the course of the last three decades, the club have suffered three relegations and a three-year spell in League One before they made it back to the Premier League in 2022.
Nuno’s side spent a good chunk of the season in the Champions League spots, but in the end had to settle for a Europa League berth and will now face a new challenge of competing both domestically and in Europe this season.
Collymore on Forest’s European hopes
When Forest were riding high in the top four last term, it brought back memories of the club’s golden European era under Brian Clough.
“In early spring, I saw Forest fans talking of Barcelona, Real Madrid and the miracle men of 1979 and ’80, but they had to temper their expectations after that,” former Forest striker Stan Collymore tells FourFourTwo.
Recent history is littered with examples of sides that have struggled to combine domestic and continental competitions, but Collymore is confident that his old side are suited to European football.
He explains: “Two English teams in the Europa League final and Chelsea winning the Conference League produced a narrative that Premier League clubs will continue to sweep all before them, and it’s not going to be that easy, but Forest’s ability to counter-attack will stand them in massively good stead, particularly away.
“Last season, they dropped off and hit you on the counter attack with players like Callum Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs-White.
“They have a decent squad now, with options on the bench. It’ll be difficult to replicate last season in the Premier League, as teams now know how to play against them, but I think they’ll maintain a top-half position.”
Forest get their 2025/26 campaign underway by hosting Brentford today before a trip to face FA Cup winners Crystal Palace.
Nuno’s squad has been strengthened by the arrival of £34million winger Dan Ndoye from Bologna, plus Brazilian international Igor Jesus and Jair Cunha who were both signed from Botafogo this summer.
