Postecoglou seeks Europa League glory again with Nottingham Forest against Real Betis

Nottingham Forest travel to Seville to open their Europa League campaign against Real Betis on Thursday, with Ange Postecoglou chasing another continental trophy after his Europa League triumph with Tottenham Hotspur earlier this year.

Just four months after guiding Tottenham to a historic 1-0 win over Manchester United in Bilbao, Postecoglou has swapped London glory for a storied but long-suffering Forest chapter. The club, which won the European Cup in 1979 and 1980 under Brian Clough, will kick off their first European tie in more than a decade and a half in conditions far removed from the modern Premier League spotlight. Forest have not played a continental match since a UEFA Cup quarter-final against Bayern Munich in March 1996, a gap of 10,781 days.

Nottingham Forest will face Real Betis in the daytime hours of Thursday AEDT, with the match staged at La Cartuja in Seville because Betis’s Estadio Benito Villamarín is undergoing redevelopment. A crowd of about 3,385 Forest supporters is expected to travel to southern Spain to back Postecoglou as he begins what he describes as a title defence in Europe, a fresh challenge after leaving Tottenham.

"Oh, absolutely. Without a shadow of a doubt. There are probably a couple of generations in there who’ve heard the stories but not lived the experiences. Now they can live their own experiences," Postecoglou said of the moment for Forest, acknowledging the club’s rich past and the weight of the occasion.

He is in the early stages of revising Forest’s style from the safety-first approach of his predecessor, Nuno Espirito Santo, toward the attacking football for which he is known. Yet he concedes that European competition may require different tactics and compromises. "It’s fair to say that the world is crying out for me to be pragmatic," he said, before adding: "But I’m just not built that way. I’ve always said what I like to do and what I enjoy more than anything is winning, so whatever it takes we’ll do. In the final we [Tottenham] had to play a certain way because of the availability of the players we had. I think you do have to approach the Europa League a little bit differently. Tactically, there’s some tweaks you need to make to allow the players to perform at their best. I still want to win every game."

Real Betis, managed by former Real Madrid and Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini, are among the Europa League favourites after falling short in last season’s Conference League final to Chelsea. Betis have made a mixed start to their La Liga campaign, collecting three away draws and two wins, plus a home loss, and will be keen to translate domestic form into European progress. One player who knows Postecoglou well is Giovani Lo Celso, Betis midfielder and a former Tottenham teammate. Lo Celso praised the Australian, saying: "Obviously, he is a great coach. He is a coach that likes the best kind of football."

The fixture also marks a return to the European stage for Forest under a new regime. Postecoglou’s assessment of the squad’s readiness is tempered by the need to adapt quickly to a demanding schedule and a brand of football that remains a work in progress as he experiments with personnel and pressing triggers. The early results in the Premier League have been modest—two defeats and a draw from away fixtures—yet he remains confident that his plan can be implemented while still competing in Europe.

Forest’s credentials in this competition are well publicised, even as history weighs heavy. The club’s European pedigree dates back to its back-to-back European Cup triumphs in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a legacy that still resonates with supporters and adds an extra layer of expectation for the season ahead. The challenge, as Postecoglou framed it, is to balance ambition with the realities of a squad in transition, one that is seeking to establish a new identity under his leadership.

The journey to Seville is as much about the club’s broader trajectory as it is about the opening fixture. Postecoglou has repeatedly stressed the need to blend attacking intent with practical considerations in a competition that requires a different rhythm to domestic campaigns. His approach is to allow his players to express themselves while ensuring that the team remains compact and disciplined when necessary. That balance, he indicated, will be the defining feature of Forest’s Europa League campaign.

As the teams prepare to meet, the emotional stake for Forest supporters is immense. The club’s fans, who have lived through a drought of European nights since the mid-1990s, are hoping to witness a revival of the European story that once defined their club. For Betis, the aim is to build on a string of positive results that has positioned them as serious contenders in a group that features established European clubs, while also projecting a message that they can perform in front of large, traveling contingents of away supporters.

The preview comes with a reminder of the unusual logistics surrounding the match. La Cartuja, normally associated with Sevilla FC’s own cup ties and large-scale events, is hosting Betis’s early-season European assignment while the home stadium undergoes development work. The atmosphere is likely to be electric, with Forest’s travelling fans no doubt shaping the mood inside the expansive venue.

For Postecoglou, the objective is clear: to translate the momentum of his recent European triumph into a second success story in a different club and a different football culture. The path is demanding—Forest will face a Betis side capable of posing constant threats from the flanks and through intricate build-ups from midfield—but the challenge is also a chance to cement a new chapter in Forest’s European narrative.

As kickoff looms, the club’s leadership, players, and supporters will be weighing the immediate question of whether this season can spark a sustained European run. The early signs are that Postecoglou’s vision for an attractive, proactive style can coexist with the pragmatic adjustments required in continental competition. If successful, Forest’s return to European relevance could serve as a catalyst for transforming a trophy-wary era into a modern chapter built on identity, resilience, and on-field intensity.