Nottingham Forest will aim to reach their first European semi-final since 1984 when they host Porto at the City Ground with their Europa League last-eight tie perfectly poised.
Forest earned a 1-1 draw from the first leg at Estadio do Dragao, William Gomes’ opener for Porto cancelled out by an astonishing own goal from Martim Fernandes.
Vitor Pereira’s side saw a goal to complete the turnaround from Igor Jesus controversially ruled out for a foul on the goalkeeper and, despite spending much of last week’s clash on the back foot, Forest will have confidence they can overcome a side they beat earlier this season in the league phase.
Forest will have taken heart from their display in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa, which could prove to be a key point in their battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League. Villa, having beaten Bologna 3-1 in their first leg, are the likely opponents for Forest should they indeed replicate their 1983-84 team, who reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup before losing to Anderlecht.
Porto are in a very different position in the Primeira Liga in Portugal, with a 3-1 win over Estoril at the weekend seeing them maintain a five-point lead over closest challengers Sporting CP in the title race.
They have their eyes on a potential treble, having reached the semi-finals of the Taca de Portugal, in which they trail Sporting 1-0 after the first leg.
Porto have not won a European trophy since the 2010-11 Europa League, and winger Pepe knows unity will be key as they bid to achieve their goals.
“Winning is always very important, even more so at this stage of the season when every game is a final,” Pepe told the club’s website.
“There are still five finals left in the league and we’ll aim to give our best, day after day, to extend this winning run. We have to keep working, always with the unity we’ve shown, which is very important.
“We’re fighting for three competitions and we’ll give it our all to fight hard for every one of them. On Thursday, we’ve got another big game, so we’ll rest and prepare as best we can to go out and secure a great result and qualify for the next round.”
Team news for Nottingham Forest v FC Porto
Jair Cunha, Nicolo Savona, Willy Boly and John Victor remain out due to injuries for Forest.
However, Elliott Anderson will return to the midfield after serving a suspension.
Porto are set to be without Fernandes owing to an ankle injury he suffered in the first leg. He is set to join Luuk de Jong, Samu Aghehow and Nehuen Perez on the sidelines.
