For 67 minutes, Nottingham Forest were at risk of making unwanted history. At that point Fenerbahce were 2-0 up and full of belief that they could achieve the miracle their head coach Domenico Tedesco had been manifesting since their 3-0 first-leg defeat in Istanbul.
Only one team in the history of European competition had lost the first leg of a tie by a three-goal margin at home and advanced. Up in the City Ground directors’ box, Evangelos Marinakis, more than an interested party on that occasion, presumably had flashbacks of Olympiakos suffering a 4-1 home defeat by Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Conference League two years ago, only to triumph 6-1 in Serbia in the second leg.
Kerem Akturkoglu scored twice to fuel Fenerbahce’s hopes, his second from the penalty spot almost immediately after the half-time restart, but the Forest substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi struck midway through the second half to extinguish the visitors’ dreams.
Forest will learn on Friday whether they will face Midtjylland or Real Betis, both of whom they played in the league phase, in the round of 16. Fenerbahce’s hopes of reaching the Europa League showpiece in May, across town in Besiktas, are over.
The way this game was set up, an early Fenerbahce goal was always going to shift the dynamic of the tie and the Turkish side got one when Akturkoglu applied the finishing touch to a counterattack. Vítor Pereira acknowledged the worst mistake Forest could make was to assume their place in the round of 16 was secure after last week’s triumph in Istanbul and his much-changed side were disjointed and sloppy.
