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“You’ll never sing that, champions of Europe,” rang out around the City Ground as Forest fans celebrated another win against their Swedish opponents. A great deal has transpired since Trevor Francis’s decisive header clinched the European Cup in 1979, but the club still treasure those glorious moments. Similarly, significant shifts have taken place in the five weeks since the manager assumed control, with Forest looking reinvigorated and securing a comfortable victory thanks to goals from Arnaud Kalimuendo, Ryan Yates, and Milenkovic, boosting their hopes of advancing in the European competition.

Gaining Momentum with Another Straight Win

For Nottingham Forest, this result – against a Swedish side that had not played for almost three weeks after finishing in sixth place in their home competition – represented a third consecutive win across all competitions and further built on the momentum gained from last weekend’s stunning victory at Liverpool. While this match was a reminder of the club's European Cup success in name, the game itself was free of any real tension or jitters.

This was an event filled with sentiment, an eagerly awaited meeting and the third competitive clash between the sides since the European Cup final 46 years ago.

Forest leaned into the heritage, paying tribute to the legends of 1979 by giving them, along with their visiting counterparts, the red-carpet treatment. 13 members of the Swedish club’s squad from that time were also present. Both teams shared a dinner together before the match. Forest legends and their teammates were given a rousing reception when they assembled on the field 15 minutes before the start, and a typically superb tifo was unveiled in the home stand.

Recalling the Past

“May 30, 1979, John Robertson crossed it in from the left,” read half of a large tifo, in capital letters. While nobody needed reminding of what ensued, the remaining section was unfurled as the players came out from the tunnel. “There is Francis,” it stated. A second stunning display depicted Brian Clough observing events beside his assistant Peter Taylor on a dugout at the Olympiastadion.

Control from the Start

So, Forest had drunk in those beautiful recollections, but what about the performance on the night? It was pretty good, as well. They were in full command from the moment the forward whistled an effort wide inside two minutes and built a 2-0 advantage by the half-time interval. Domínguez sent an early header off target and then Abbott, on his first European start, tried his luck.

It seemed appropriate that Yates, who joined Forest aged eight, made the initial breakthrough in the visitors' defense led by their own academy product skipper, Pontus Jansson, formerly of Leeds and Brentford FC. The Forest centre-back Milenkovic saw a delivery cannon off a opponent and into the path of Yates, who swept home right-footed from the edge of the penalty area to register his first goal since last 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 Malmö’s goalkeeper Ellborg but the alert forward poised to convert the rebound from close range. McAtee, the midfielder handed a seldom start and only his second outing since the autumn, was the spark, chipping a perfect ball towards his teammate at the far post.

Just moments before, Callum Hudson-Odoi driven shot was turned aside off the back Colin Rösler, son of former Manchester City striker Uwe, and an free Milenkovic had earlier had a powerful header instinctively saved by Ellborg, who was back in place of the former Aston Villa goalie Olsen.

Malmö’s Difficulties

This was the Swedish side's initial game since the Swedish Allsvenskan ended on 9 November, and they found it hard to match the home team's energy. The Reds extended the lead to three when the defender applied the finishing touch after his centre-back partner Murillo kept alive a corner. The captain had a volley blocked, but the Serbia centre-back Milenkovic pounced on the leftovers.

Forest then went for the jugular, with the winger dinking a right-foot shot on to the crossbar before Ibrahim Sangaré sent an ambitious shot wide from distance. It was that kind of evenings. The manager, aware of Sunday’s league game here against Brighton & Hove Albion, made seven changes from the side that stunned Liverpool at their ground recently, when they also scored three goals, though he introduced Elliot Anderson, Dan Ndoye and Igor Jesus during the second half.

Hiccup-Free Evening for Forest

It turned out to be a flawless night for Forest. The coach could withdraw the defender with the game already boxed off and subsequently brought on 19-year-old full-back Sinclair for his senior bow. He talked about the club legends supplying “bits of gold” at regular meetings and, nearly fifty years on, the current crop demonstrated they are capable of a few nuggets of thrills, as well.