NOTINGHAM, UK (AP) — Nottingham Forest hopes to mark its first home game at the European tournament in almost 30 years with the first victory of the recently hired manager Ange Postecoglou.
Forest faces Denmark’s side midiland on Thursday, a week after starting the Europa League campaign with a 2-2 draw at Real Betis. It has reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup, the Premier League club’s first match in Europe since 1996 and the predecessor of the Europa League.
“There are a lot of forest fans who haven’t experienced Europe before, so it’s going to be exciting for everyone to see,” said striker Chris Wood. “It’s a history that’s been created and something we want to achieve great things.”
Forest won’t win in five games under Post Coglow, as the former Tottenham manager took over as follows Nuno Espirito Santo was fired.
Another English club, Aston Villa, was boosted towards Fayenode after his first Premier League victory of the season, 3-1 with Fulham and a 1-0 defeat of Bologna in the European opening round.
Scotland’s representatives Celtic and Rangers are hoping for their first victory against Braga and Sturm Glaz, respectively.
Rome meets Lille, Lyon meets Salzburg, Stuttgart travels to Basel, and Israel Maccaviter Aviv plays Dinamozagreb in Bacikatopola, Serbia. Israeli clubs play games organized by UEFA in neutral countries for security reasons during the conflict in Gaza.
In the opening round of the third tier conference league, two runner-up Fiorentina will be taking on Czech side Olomouk and Crystal Palace to Lublin, Poland, to face Dynamo Kiev.
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