Tonight na big match for Europa League quarter-final second leg. Nottingham Forest go host FC Porto for City Ground. The first leg for Portugal end 1-1, so everything still open. Three Naija players go dey inside this wahala from different sides.
For Forest, Ola Aina na the only Nigerian wey go represent. Him watch the first leg from bench as unused substitute, but tonight him fit get chance. Taiwo Awoniyi no register for this knockout phase, so him no go play. Aina don make six Europa League appearances this season.
For Porto side, Terem Moffi and Zaidu Sanusi dey ready. Both play for first leg. Moffi just join Porto from Nice for January, and him don score one goal for three Europa League appearances. Some Porto fans even jeer am last week. Sanusi don give one assist for seven European games this season.
Forest season for Premier League no easy at all. Survival still dey their mind. But for Europa League, dem don show small pepper. Dem beat Porto 2-0 for City Ground during league phase. After group stage, dem qualify for knockout play-off, beat Fenerbahce 4-2 aggregate, then edge past Midtjylland on penalties.
Porto form strong well-well. Dem no lose for last eight matches across all competitions. For Primeira Liga, dem dey top with five-point lead over Sporting Lisbon. Dem win 24 matches, draw four, lose only one from 29 league games. But their record against English clubs for Europa League no too sweet – dem no win any of their last five meetings.
Injury wahala dey for both teams. Forest miss Jair Cunha, Nicolo Savona, Willy Boly and John Victor. But Elliot Anderson don return from suspension. For Porto, Luuk de Jong, Martim Fernandes, Samu Aghehowa and Nehuen Perez no go play.
Martim Fernandes own goal for first leg don become talk. The 20-year-old defender score bizarre own goal from 45 yards wey level the match 1-1. Minutes later, him collect injury and dem substitute am.
Forest home record for Europe no too impressive. Dem don lose three matches already for City Ground for this campaign. If dem lose again tonight, dem go become first English side to lose four home games for single major European campaign. For all competitions, dem get just one win for their last 11 home matches.
Porto away form better. Dem get three consecutive wins away, including victory over Stuttgart for previous round. But for second-leg ties for Europe, their record no strong – just four wins for their last 22.
Kick-off time na 15:00 EST and 20:00 GMT for 16 April. If you wan watch from abroad, you fit use VPN like ExpressVPN to bypass geo-restrictions. The VPN go help you change your location virtually to country wey dey broadcast the match.
Tonight match go decide which team go qualify for semi-final. For Naija fans, allegiance go split, but pride go remain. Aina go try make impact for Forest. Moffi go look for chance to silence critics. Sanusi go aim to maintain steady performance. The City Ground go hot tonight.
Do you have a news tip for NNN? Please email us at editor @ nnn.ng
