Nottingham Forest FC took a slender advantage in their UEFA Europa League quarter-final tie, beating FC Porto 1–0 in the first leg on 16 April 2026.
The match turned Forest’s way early. Porto were reduced to 10 men in the 8th minute when Jan Bednarek was shown a straight red card, leaving the visitors with a numerical disadvantage for more than 80 minutes.
Forest capitalised soon after. In the 12th minute, Morgan Gibbs-White broke the deadlock, finishing a move created by Neco Williams to give the hosts a 1–0 lead that would prove decisive. No further goals were recorded despite both sides making several tactical changes.
Chris Wood’s evening ended early as he was replaced by Igor Jesus in the 16th minute, while Omari Hutchinson, booked in the 40th minute, was withdrawn at half-time for Callum Hudson-Odoi. Dan Ndoye later made way for Nikola Milenković, and Forest also introduced Morato and Dilane Bakwa in the 72nd minute as they sought to protect and potentially build on their advantage.
Porto, already down to 10 men, reshuffled heavily at the break, sending on Alan Varela, Victor Froholdt, Jakub Kiwior and Moura for Borja Sainz, Alberto Baio, Gabriel Veiga and Zaidu Sanusi. Further into the second half, Terem Moffi, who had been booked on 32 minutes, was replaced by Deniz Gul in the 66th minute. William da Silva picked up a late yellow card on 90 minutes, adding to Porto’s disciplinary woes.
With no additional goals recorded after Gibbs-White’s strike, Forest will take a 1–0 lead into the second leg against Porto. Detailed statistics such as possession, shots and individual performance data were not available at the time of writing.
More information on the tie and competition can be found at Ballaxy’s match centre and the UEFA Europa League page.
UEFA Europa League Standings
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | PTS | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Olympique Lyonnais
|
8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 21 | |
| 2 |
Aston Villa FC
|
8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 21 | L W W |
| 3 |
FC Midtjylland
|
8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 19 | |
| 4 |
Real Betis Balompié
|
8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 17 | L D |
| 5 |
FC Porto
|
8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 17 | L D |
| 6 |
Sporting Clube de Braga
|
8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 17 | W W D |
| 7 |
SC Freiburg
|
8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 17 | L W W |
| 8 |
AS Roma
|
8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 16 | |
| 9 |
KRC Genk
|
8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 16 | |
| 10 |
Bologna FC 1909
|
8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 15 | L L |
| 11 |
VfB Stuttgart
|
8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 15 | |
| 12 |
Ferencvárosi TC
|
8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 15 | |
| 13 |
Nottingham Forest FC
|
8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 14 | W W D |
| 14 |
FC Viktoria Plzeň
|
8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 14 | |
| 15 |
FK Crvena Zvezda
|
8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 14 | |
| 16 |
RC Celta de Vigo
|
8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 13 | L L |
| 17 |
PAOK Thessaloniki FC
|
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 12 | |
| 18 |
Lille OSC
|
8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 12 | |
| 19 |
Fenerbahçe SK
|
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 12 | |
| 20 |
Panathinaikos AO
|
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 12 | |
| 21 |
Celtic FC
|
8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 15 | -2 | 11 | |
| 22 |
PFK Ludogorets 1945 Razgrad
|
8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 15 | -3 | 10 | |
| 23 |
GNK Dinamo Zagreb
|
8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 16 | -4 | 10 | |
| 24 |
SK Brann
|
8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 11 | -2 | 9 | |
| 25 |
BSC Young Boys
|
8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 16 | -6 | 9 | |
| 26 |
SK Sturm Graz
|
8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 | -6 | 7 | |
| 27 |
FCSB Bukarest
|
8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 16 | -7 | 7 | |
| 28 |
Go Ahead Eagles
|
8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 14 | -8 | 7 | |
| 29 |
Feyenoord Rotterdam
|
8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 15 | -4 | 6 | |
| 30 |
FC Basel 1893
|
8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 13 | -4 | 6 | |
| 31 |
FC Red Bull Salzburg
|
8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 15 | -5 | 6 | |
| 32 |
Rangers FC
|
8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 14 | -9 | 4 | |
| 33 |
OGC Nice
|
8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 15 | -8 | 3 | |
| 34 |
FC Utrecht
|
8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 15 | -10 | 1 | |
| 35 |
Malmö FF
|
8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 15 | -11 | 1 | |
| 36 |
Maccabi Tel Aviv FC
|
8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 22 | -20 | 1 |
