🔗 Share this article

“Champions of Europe, you’ll never sing that,” echoed through the ground as Nottingham Forest followers celebrated a further win against their Swedish opponents. A great deal has occurred since Trevor Francis’s winning header secured the continental trophy back in the year 1979, but Forest still treasure those memories. Equally, major shifts have occurred in the five weeks since Sean Dyche assumed control, with the team appearing reinvigorated and securing a convincing win thanks to goals from Arnaud Kalimuendo, Ryan Yates, and Milenkovic, boosting their prospects of advancing in the European competition.

Building Steam with Third Consecutive Victory

For Forest, this result – against a Swedish side that had been inactive for almost three weeks after ending in sixth place in their domestic league – marked a third consecutive triumph across every tournament and added to the momentum gained from the previous week's success at Liverpool. While this fixture was a reminder of the club's European Cup triumph in spirit, the encounter itself was devoid of any significant tension or jitters.

This was an event filled with nostalgia, an longed-for meeting and the third clash between the teams since the European Cup final over four decades past.

Forest fully embraced the heritage, paying tribute to the legends of 1979 by providing them, along with their Malmö counterparts, the red-carpet treatment. 13 members of the Malmö's squad from then were also in attendance. Both teams shared a meal together prior to the match. Frank Clark, Colin Barrett and company received a rousing welcome when they gathered on the pitch 15 minutes before kick-off, and a typically impressive tifo was shown in the home stand.

Remembering History

“May 30, 1979, John Robertson delivered the ball from the left,” read one part of a giant tifo, in capital letters. While nobody required a reminder of what ensued, the remaining section was revealed as the squads came out from the tunnel. “There is Francis,” it stated. Another brilliant display showed Clough watching proceedings beside his right-hand man Taylor on a bench at the Munich stadium.

Dominance from the Outset

So, the hosts had soaked up those wonderful memories, but what about the performance on the night? It was pretty good, as well. They were in complete control from the moment the forward whistled an effort wide inside two minutes and established a two-goal advantage by the half-time interval. Nicolás Domínguez sent an early header wide and then Zach Abbott, on his maiden European start, had a go.

It seemed appropriate that Yates, who came to Forest aged eight, made the first dent in the Malmö defence captained by their own academy product skipper, Jansson, formerly of Leeds United and Brentford. The home defender Milenkovic saw a delivery cannon off a defender and into the pathway of the midfielder, who swept home with his right foot from the edge of the penalty area to score his first goal since March.

Second Goal Confirms Dominance

Yates was implicated in the team's second goal on the brink of the interval, too, his free header parried by the shot-stopper Ellborg but the alert forward on hand to tap in the rebound from close range. James McAtee, the playmaker given a seldom start and only his second appearance since the autumn, was the catalyst, chipping a delicious ball towards his teammate at the back post.

Just moments before, Hudson-Odoi’s driven shot was deflected aside off the back Colin Rösler, son of former Manchester City forward Uwe Rösler, and an unmarked the defender had earlier had a powerful header instinctively saved by the keeper, who returned in place of the former Villa goalkeeper Olsen.

Malmö’s Struggles

This was the Swedish side's initial game since the Swedish Allsvenskan ended on November 9th, and they found it hard to match the home team's intensity. The Reds made it 3-0 when the defender scored after his centre-back partner Murillo kept alive a corner. Yates had a volley stopped, but the Serbian centre-back Milenkovic pounced on the leftovers.

Forest then pushed for more, with the winger dinking a right-foot shot on to the bar before Ibrahim Sangaré sent an optimistic effort off target from 30 yards. It was one of those nights. The manager, mindful of the upcoming league game here against Brighton, made multiple alterations from the team that stunned the Reds at Anfield recently, when they additionally scored three goals, though he called on substitutes and Igor Jesus midway through the final period.

Smooth Evening for Forest

It proved a hiccup-free evening for Forest. The coach could take off the defender with the match already boxed off and subsequently brought on teenage defender Jimmy Sinclair for his first-team debut. Dyche talked about the club legends supplying “valuable insights” at weekly get-togethers and, almost five decades on, the current crop showed they are capable of a few nuggets of excitement, too.