Nottingham Forest’s long-awaited return to European football at the City Ground ended in heartbreak, as they fell 3-2 to Danish side Midtjylland in the Europa League, their first home European outing in nearly three decades.
The night, expected to be a celebration of Forest’s continental revival, instead turned sour as frustration boiled over against new head coach Ange Postecoglou.
The Australian, just 22 days into the job, remains winless, and chants of “sacked in the morning” echoed around the ground alongside tributes to his predecessor, Nuno Espirito Santo.
The defeat also etched an unwanted record in history, making Postecoglou the first permanent Forest manager in a century to fail to win any of his first six games.
The atmosphere was electric before kickoff, with fans in the Trent End unveiling a giant tifo declaring, “For a new generation our time has come.” But Midtjylland quickly silenced the occasion when Ousmane Diao tapped home from close range in the 18th minute after Forest failed to deal with a set piece.
Forest responded four minutes later, as Morgan Gibbs-White timed his run perfectly and squared for Dan Ndoye to level. Yet just two minutes later, poor defending at another dead ball allowed Mads Bech to poke the visitors back in front.
The hosts chased an equaliser after the break, with efforts from Neco Williams, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Ibrahim Sangaré testing Midtjylland’s resolve.
Substitute Chris Wood twice thought he had delivered the leveller, only for both strikes to be chalked off by the assistant’s flag.
Instead, Forest were punished on the counter in the 88th minute as Valdemar Andreasen raced clear and slotted past Matz Sels, leaving Postecoglou clutching his head in disbelief on the touchline.
Wood did pull one back from the penalty spot in stoppage time after VAR intervened, but it was too little, too late.
The final whistle was met with boos from the home crowd, underlining the growing discontent as Forest’s wait for a European home victory stretches on and Postecoglou’s tenure comes under immediate pressure.
