Overview
Participating in the European arena for the first time in three decades, Nottingham Forest could not win a direct ticket to the Europa League round of 16 but had to go through the play-offs. The English team finished the group stage in 13th place with a record of 4 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses after 8 matches.
In theory, Forest faces a big challenge when facing Turkish giant Fenerbahce. However, under the guidance of coach Vitor Pereira, they created a surprise when winning the overall score 4-2. Forest won 3-0 away in the first leg before losing 1-2 in the second leg at home.
However, Forest's performance was not really stable afterwards. They went through a 4-match winless streak in all competitions, including a 1-2 defeat to Brighton in the Premier League and a 2-2 draw with Man City. These results made Forest still only above the relegation group thanks to goal difference.
Staying in the Premier League is still Forest's priority goal, but the team also wants to go further in the Europa League. If they can do that, they will reach the quarter-finals of a European tournament for the first time since the 1995-1996 UEFA Cup season.
The dream of recreating the golden age under Brian Clough - when Forest won the European C1 Cup in 1979 and 1980 - is still very far away. In the immediate future, Pereira needs to improve the home form of the team, as Forest has only won 1 in the last 8 matches at City Ground (3 draws, 4 losses).
Meanwhile, Midtjylland is one of the phenomenons of the Europa League this season. The Danish representative won 19 points after 8 group stage matches to rank third in the 36-team standings, thereby winning a direct ticket to the round of 16.
From September to January, Midtjylland successively defeated Forest, Sturm Graz, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Celtic, Genk and Dinamo Zagreb, and drew with Brann. Their only defeat to date was a 1-2 defeat at Roma's home ground.
Coach Mike Tullberg's team continues to maintain stable form in the domestic arena. They are on a 5-match unbeaten streak, winning 7 points after 3 matches in the Danish national championship to keep a 4-point gap with the leading team. In addition, Midtjylland also surpassed Aarhus GF with a total score of 2-1 to win the right to enter the Danish National Cup final.
Returning to the Europa League, Midtjylland also has memorable memories when facing English teams. In 5 encounters with Premier League representatives in European cups, they won 2 - against Nottingham Forest and against Louis van Gaal's Man United with a score of 2-1 in the 2016 Europa League.
Personnel situation
Nottingham Forest will be missing a series of players due to injuries, including Chris Wood, Nicolo Savona, John Victor and Willy Boly - all of whom have knee problems. Meanwhile, newcomer Luca Netz is not eligible to play after not being registered in the team's Europa League squad.
On the other side, Midtjylland also suffered losses when key striker Franculino - who has scored 21 goals in all competitions this season - will be absent due to injury. In addition, Mikel Gogorza will also be unable to play, and winger Dario Osorio is suspended due to receiving enough yellow cards.
In attack, Junior Brumado and Gue-sung Cho are competing for a starting spot with Aral Simsir. Meanwhile, full-back Kevin Mbabu (former Fulham player) and midfielder Philip Billing (former Bournemouth player) are likely to still be present in the starting lineup of the Danish representative.
Expected lineup:
Nottingham Forest: Ortega, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Hutchinson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Jesus.
Olafsson, Erlic, Bech Sorensen, Diao, Mbabu, Billing, Castillo, Bak, Simsir, Cho, Brumado.
The match between Nottingham Forest and Midtjylland takes place at 3:00 AM on March 13 (Vietnam time).
