Latest Nottingham Forest news as Vitor Pereira’s Reds through to quarter-finals of Europa League
21:39, 19 Mar 2026Updated 21:44, 19 Mar 2026
Vitor Pereira, manager of Nottingham Forest, looks on prior to the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 Round of 16 Second Leg match between FC Midtjylland and Nottingham Forest FC at Arena Herning
Vitor Pereira was full of pride in his Nottingham Forest players as they clinched a place in the Europa League quarter-finals courtesy of a brilliant comeback against FC Midtjylland.
The Reds had travelled to Denmark with a 1-0 deficit to overturn after last week’s last 16 first leg at the City Ground. Goals from Nicolas Dominguez and Ryan Yates meant they won 2-1 on the night at the MCH Arena, but Martin Erlic’s strike for the hosts took the tie to extra-time and then a penalty shootout.
Morgan Gibbs-White, Ibrahim Sangare and Neco Williams all found the net from the spot while Midtjylland missed three of theirs to send Forest through. Pereira said the Reds had used the way their opponents enthusiastically celebrated their City Ground triumph as “fuel” for the return leg.
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“First half, I must be honest, I just enjoyed the game,” he said. “We have the talent and we have the character, so I really believed we could make it happen.
“They have the talent and they have the spirit. I said to go play and enjoy themselves because we have the quality to come here and win the game. For me, for the players and for the supporters, they deserve to move forward in this competition and to feel the winning feeling.
“We had practiced penalties a lot because we have been working on set-plays and I really believed we had enough time to win the game. I think we deserved it.
“Today, my players deserve it. The players that started the game and the players who came off the bench deserve to celebrate and to move forward.
“In the first game, at the end, they won the game and they started to celebrate. It was too early for them and, for us, it was like fuel to come here and to prove that we have enough time (to turn it around) and we came here to compete and win. It was good for us. And now it’s time to put our minds in the next game because it’s very important for us.”
Pereira had named a much-changed line-up in Denmark, with Sunday’s big league clash away to Tottenham Hotspur in mind. His second-string impressed, though.
“We are in a position where we need to balance the energy of the players with both competitions. But when I said before the game we were coming here to compete and to win the game, it was my feeling since the first minute.”
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