SEVILLA, Spain (AP) — Nottingham Forest will return to European competition after 30 years in a trip to Spain to face the real Betis in the opening match of the Europa League on Wednesday.
The Premier League teams reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup, the predecessor of current tier 2 competitions, in the 1995-96 season.
Forest is still looking for his first victory under new coach Ange Postecoglou after two losses and one draw since the former Tottenham manager took over. Nuno Espirito Santo was fired.
Post-Coglu was fired by Tottenham in June despite winning the Spurs’ Europa League. First trophy in 17 years They finished 17th after a season in which they endured the worst Premier League campaign ever.
The forest is in the Europa League Instead of Crystal Palacethe winner of the English FA Cup demoted by UEFA in a complex case related to owners who bet on multiple clubs. Crystal Palace will play the third tier conference league.
Among other games on Wednesday, Rome will launch a campaign in Nice. Freiburg’s host Swiss champion Basel, Feyenod, travels to Braga, Celt meets Red Star in Belgrade, and Puck plays Maccavitel Aviv at home.
The remaining nine games are scheduled for Thursday.
The Europa League uses the same 36 team league format as Champions League. Teams play eight different opponents in the league stage and are ranked on a single stand table.
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
