Thank you very much for joining me for tonight’s big game.
Ben Fisher was the main man in Porto. Here is his report.
Paul MacInnes was in Bologna on a big night for Aston Villa.
Ed Aarons was at Selhurst Park as Crystal Palace sent Fiorentina packing.
Ryan Yates: “We will take it back to the City Ground, everything to play for.
“I thought it was a real tactical game, they had spells on the ball, we had to be disciplined and defensively organised. I took us 10 minutes to get into it but I think it was deserved.”
Full time: Porto 1-1 Nottingham Forest
After shaky start for Forest, they will leave Portugal level. A draw always looked the aim for Pereira’s side and the head coach will be very happy with his side’s performance. Should be a spicy second leg.
90+4 mins: Forest are eager to whack the ball as far down the pitch as possible. Who can blame them?
90+2 mins: William bends in a dangerous cross from the right but it is a little too high for everyone and goes harmlessly out of play.
90 mins: Five minutes added on.
88 mins: Porto have a corner on the right. Time for Forest to hold their nerves. Williams takes it but Milenkovic heads clear. The visitors try to break but it is unsuccessful, and arguably ill-advised.
86 mins: Neat combination on the edge of the box allows Varela a chance from 18 yards, which is deflected but Ortega is in the right position to claim.
Ndoye takes a bang on the hip after a heavy fall. He gets up gingerly.
84 mins: Ndoye gets the ball whacked into his gentleman’s agreement and needs a few seconds while his eyes water.
82 mins: Forest are getting men behind the ball and making it difficult for Porto to prise them open. Porto enjoy a slow buildup and Varela is forced to shoot from distance but it’s a wayward effort.
80 mins: Nearly a second for Porto! Ortega fails to come for a ball, allowing Pepe to collect and produce a stunning backheeled through ball to Froholdt, whose shot goes an inch wide.
78 mins: Forest must be eyeing up the draw now. They are knocking it about at limited speed.
76 mins: Very sensible for Forest to put an extra central midfielder onto the pitch to add a little extra fortitude.
74 mins: The home grow are getting louder and the Porto side on the pitch are moving things quicker.
Fofana off, Varela on for Porto.
Forest are sending on Sangare for McAtee.
72 mins: Porto are plotting a final change in the hope of finding a winner.
70 mins: Deniz Gul looks lively and gets into the box, combining with Froholdt, but curls his show over from six yards or so.
69 mins: William takes aim for the bottom corner but Ortega comes up with the goods, producing a fine save to tip the shot wide.
67 mins: Forest are showing a little more confidence at this stage. McAtee swings in a cross from the right but it goes over everyone.
65 mins: The officials are still looking at this potential goal from Jesus. Diogo Costa is milking it to show a foul must have occurred. The referee is calling over Thiago Silva and Yates for a chat.
The goal will not stand on account of handball, judging by the gesture from the referee. Who knows?!
64 mins: Ortega is also having a bit of treatment.
63 mins: NO GOAL! A little bit of chaos. Igor Jesus clatters into Diogo Costa in the box when challenging for a cross. The goalkeeper hits the deck and Jesus smashes the ball in. The referee belatedly disallows it. I would argue, no foul was committed but it would take a brave referee to overturn it.
Updated
62 mins: Williams goes to right wing-back and Hutchinson is a straight replacement for Gibbs-White.
Williams first involvement is a straightforward backpass to Ortega, who takes a dreadful first touch and only just about recovers.
60 mins: Williams and Hutchinson on for Bakwa and Gibbs-White.
59 mins: McAtee is given plenty of space around 30 yards from goal, he gets the ball out of his feet and thrashes shot but Diogo Costa is equal to it.
Porto take off Sainz, Moffi and Veiga. Pepe, Deniz Gul and. Froholdt on.
57 mins: Alberto Costa sends a cross, causing chaos; Ortega threatens to come and claim but back tracks, none of the defenders do anything about it and the forwards can’t get a touch. In the end, Forest do manage to clear.
55 mins: Darren Fletcher has just realised Porto have not made a sub.
Forest are offered next to nothing going forward in this half.
53 mins: Porto have a corner on the right. William curls it in to the front post, from where it is flicked on, forcing Dominguez to head clear off the line.
51 mins: I am not sure what the commentators are on about with regards to Pepe coming on for William because the latter is definitely still on the pitch and the former is not.
49 mins: I suspect Forest will be happy to leave with a draw, so might slow things down at times here.
Not on this occasion, however, as they break up field but it concludes prematurely when Bakwa loses the ball.
Down the other end, William has a chance on the right, he cuts in then drags a shot wide.
Updated
47 mins: Fofana receives the ball in a decent position inside the box but takes too long and is crowded out.
Second half
Here we go again!
Milenkovic and Jesus on for Murillo and Wood.
Updated
Half-time reading …
Justin Kavanagh emails: “Poor Martim Fernandes, sitting on the bench, surrounded by teammates but feeling like the loneliest 20-year-old alive. It’s one thing missing from 12 yards in a shoot-out or some such, but a 45-yard own goal will be a 3-a.m.-sweat-soaker of a memory to try and banish.”
Half time: Porto 1-1 Nottingham Forest
In the early stages, it looked like Porto would run away with the game – and possibly the tie – but a bizarre own goal from Martim changed the momentum. The Portuguese side still look the better of the two but Forest have a sniff.
45+1 mins: William digs out a cross for Moffi to attack; the striker gets in a decent header from six yards but Ortega reads it and makes a fine save.
45 mins: Three minutes added on.
43 mins: Wood being thrown in after six months out is a reminder of how useless Lucca has been since arriving in January. Forest need a focal point and the Italian is not it.
41 mins: Forest have certainly improved since their fortunate equaliser but I still feel the defence can be opened up with relative ease.
39 mins: Yates nods a looping header at goal but it is a straightforward claim for Diogo Costa.
37 mins: It becomes quite crowded on the edge of the Forest box, making things difficult for Porto. Gabriel Veiga gets a half chance on the edge of the box but his shot lacks power and accuracy.
35 mins: The Porto fans are booing, which is quite funny in its way. It’s only 1-1 lads. Be patient.
33 mins: Forest enjoy their best spell of possession, concluding with Gibbs-White pulling a cross back for McAtee but a Porto foot reaches it first.
Updated
31 mins: Murillo dribbles a good 50 yards up the pitch but then loses possession.
29 mins: Ndoye’s shot is deflected, and Bednarek looks to have it covered but takes to long, allowing Wood to get in front of him. The striker goes down and wants a penalty but the referee is having none of it.
27 mins: Bakwa tries to pick out Wood in the box but the Porto defence is disciplined.
25 mins: You have to assume Pereira will change the defensive formation at some point, otherwise Forest could be on the end of a pummelling here.
23 mins: Ortega is forced to come out of his area to head a ball over the top clear. Fofana tries to fire over the goalkeeper into an empty net but does not get a clean hit.
Porto are cutting Forest open every time they get the ball.
21 mins: Forest have a corner on the left after a desperate attempt from Alberto Costa to claim foul. Bakwa swings in two in a row in the end but neither come to anything.
19 mins: Martim is being replaced. Alberto Costa is on. A dreadful appearance from the poor lad.
17 mins: Martim is now down injured, requiring treatment. I am not if it’s hurt pride but he certainly looks in pain. He was accidentally caught by Ndoye while he was tumbling to the ground after being fouled by Veiga.
15 mins: Forest are lucky to be level and really need to up their game here because they are struggling.
Veiga is booked for going through the back of Ndoye.
GOAL! Martim decides to send a 45-yard backpass to the goalkeeper but Diogo Costa is outside of his area and can’t react quickly enough to the overstruck pass, which slips into an empty net.
Updated
GOAL! Porto 1-1 Nottingham Forest (Martim og, 13)
WHAT A SHOCKER!
Updated
GOAL! Porto’s sharper start pays off. A clever pass from Rosario to Veiga, allows the latter to slide a cross into the corridor of certainty, going all the way through to William, who taps home.
GOAL! Porto 1-0 Nottingham Forest (William, 11)
William pops at the back post to finish.
Updated
10 mins: Forest seem happy to slow things down before pinging it long to Wood, who is there to hold it up. Admittedly, the Kiwi is a little rusty and not winning much in the air.
8 mins: A smart move from Porto ends with Gabriel Veiga setting up Sainz on the edge of the box but his shot is straight at Ortega. Porto look the sharper side.
We have a VAR check with Murillo accused of pulling back Moffi inside the box but the Forest defender is eventually cleared of wrongdoing.
6 mins: The two teams seem to be feeling one another out for now.
4 mins: Ndoye gets into a decent position down the left but his cross finds Thiago Silva in the middle and that man knows how to clear a football.
2 mins: Porto almost ahead within 60 seconds. The hosts break and Moffi is through, one-on-one with Ortega but the goalkeeper comes out on top. There is a chance on the rebound but Ortega snaffles it.
Kári Tulinius emails: “I watched Porto handle a very good Stuttgart side with ease in the last round. They kept the German side at bay with a minimum of fuss, and flew forward when they won the ball. Forest have to fully on it in this tie because these Dragons have a bite.”
Kick off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
The players are out …
Thiago Silva is at the back for Porto, at a very young 41. He must ruddy love football. I would have been a deck chair long ago. It is, however, nice to know there are still a few active footballers who are older than me.
This is relevant, in many ways, to this game.
Looking forward to Ben Fisher’s follow up tonight’s match.
He will be sat in the press box with a francesinha and Super Bock.
Good to see Zach Abbott getting more minutes today. The defender has plenty of potential but has not been given enough minutes to progress. I suspect he will head out on loan next season.
And Andy Robertson is leaving Liverpool in the summer …
I am sure Uefa are doing this for the good of the game and no other reason …
Chris Wood is back but where everyone fits into that XI is a bit of a guess. Not an obvious formation to be found.
Starting lineups
Porto (4-3-3): Diogo Costa; Martim, Thiago, Bednarek, Zaidu; Pablo, Fofana, Gabri; William, Borja, Moffi
Subs: Ramos, Joao Costa, Kiwior, Froholdt, Pepe, Alberto Costa, Prpic, Varela, Deniz Gul, Tiago Silva, Moura, Mora
Forest (3-4-2-1): Ortega; Abbott, Morato, Murillo; Bakwa; Yates, Dominguez, Ndoye; McAtee, Gibbs-White; Wood
Subs: Sels, Williams, Sangare, Hudson-Odoi, Jesus, Lucca, Hutchinson, Milenkovic, Aina, Whitehall, Sinclair, Hanks
Pre-match reading, courtesy of your man Ben Fisher who is literally in Porto.
Preamble
Who can forget that night in October when Sean Dyche won his first game in charge of Nottingham Forest against Porto in the Europa League? It looked like things were set at the City Ground, having moved onto their third head coach of the season. Six months on and plenty has happened in between but, against the odds, they are still flying in high in Europe and face Porto for a second time.
Vitor Pereira is now in charge and for the second time since becoming head coach is travelling abroad to face a club he previously managed. Fenerbahce were swept aside as the Portuguese’s first act and he will be eyeing similar tonight. The international break allowed some of the squad to rest up amid a hectic campaign of playing twice a week and it should be a fresh side that visits Portugal, including the returning Chris Wood. They pummelled Tottenham in their most recent outing in the Premier League, bringing some much-needed confidence in a relegation battle.
Let’s hope for a cracker.
Kick-off: 8pm BST.
