For 67 minutes, Nottingham Forest were at risk of matching an unwanted record. At that point Fenerbahce were 2-0 up and full of belief that they could achieve the miracle their head coach, Domenico Tedesco, had been manifesting since their 3-0 first-leg defeat in Istanbul.
Only one team in the history of European club competitions have lost the first leg of a tie by a three-goal margin at home and advanced in the second. Up in the directors’ box, Evangelos Marinakis, more than an interested party on that occasion, presumably had flashbacks of Olympiakos suffering a 4-1 home defeat by Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Conference League two years ago, only to triumph 6-1 in Serbia in the second leg.
Kerem Akturkoglu scored twice to fuel Fenerbahce’s hopes, his second from the penalty spot almost immediately after the half-time restart, but the Forest substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi struck midway through the second half to extinguish the visitors’ dreams. Forest will learn on Friday whether they will face Midtjylland or Real Betis, both of whom they played in the league phase and could not beat, in the last 16. Fenerbahce’s hopes of reaching the Europa League showpiece in May, across town in Besiktas Stadium, are over.
The way this game was set up, an early Fenerbahce goal was always going to shift the dynamic of the tie and the Turkish side got one when Akturkoglu applied the finishing touch to a counterattack. Vítor Pereira acknowledged the worst mistake Forest could make was to assume their place in the last 16 was secure and his much-changed side were disjointed and sloppy. “It was a thriller – with suspense,” Pereira said. “We had to suffer.”
Williot Swedberg scored the only goal as Celta Vigo beat PAOK 3-1 on aggregate in their Europa League playoff second leg to set up a last-16 tie against either Aston Villa or Lyon.
Lille bounced back from losing the first leg to win 2-0 at Red Star Belgrade thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud and, in extra time, Nathan Ngoy, and will provide the other potential opposition for Villa or Lyon in Friday's draw.
Robbie Keane's Ferencvaros side also overturned a one-goal first-leg deficit to win 2-0 at home and knock out Ludogorets Razgrad.
First-half goals from Gabi Kanichowsky and Kristoffer Zachariassen put the Hungarian side into the next round, where they will face Porto or Braga, one of which Stuttgart will also face despite losing 1-0 at home to Celtic.
Luke McCowan's goal after 28 seconds was the Europa League's fastest in 10 years but the hosts prevailed 4-2 on aggregate.
Panathinaikos, who played the second half of extra time with 10 men after Javi Hernández was sent off, beat Viktoria Plzen 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the second leg made it 3-3 on aggregate.
Andreas Tetteh put the visitors ahead early but Karel Spacil equalised for Plzen and in the shootout Milos Pantovic scored the decisive spot-kick with Midtjylland or Real Betis awaiting in the last 16. Nottingham Forest, who beat Fenerbahce on aggregate, are also potential opponents for Midtjylland or Betis.
Bologna beat 10-man Brann 1-0 on the night and 2-0 on aggregate to set up last-16 tie with either Roma or Freiburg, who could also face Genk.
The Belgians survived a fightback from Dinamo Zagreb who, having scored three times to make it 3-1 on the night and 4-4 on aggregate then had Luka Stojkovic sent off in extra time either side of the home side scoring twice.
In the Conference League, Fiorentina needed extra time to prevail after throwing away a 3-0 lead from the first leg at Poland's Jagiellonia Bialystok.
Bartosz Mazurek had led the comeback with a hat-trick, but substitutes Nicolò Fagioli and an own goal in extra time proved enough for the Italian team despite Jagiellonia winning 4-2 on the night – Fiorentina won 5-4 on aggregate. Agencies
It was a long first half from a Forest perspective. The flares thrown on to the pitch by the Fenerbahce supporters within 30 seconds of kick-off paused the game for a couple of minutes. Murillo, who opened the scoring in style in Turkey, was uncomfortable and erratic after being shunted across to left-back, with fellow Brazilians Morato and Jair Cunha doing little to inspire confidence at centre-back. Luckily, Stefan Ortega, one of five Forest players to keep their spots, was alert in goal.
Forest were in an awkward spot from the moment Dorgeles Nene released Sidiki Cherif down the right channel in the 22nd minute and suddenly it was two v two. Cherif squared the ball for Akturkoglu and, while Neco Williams got a touch after sliding in desperation, the Forest full-back then lost his footing and now the Fenerbahce forward just had Ortega to beat. Pereira scratched his head as the away end went ballistic.
Pereira attempted to stem the bleeding with a quadruple half-time substitution, introducing Hudson-Odoi, Ola Aina, Igor Jesus and Ibrahim Sangaré. Yet just 25 seconds after the restart, the Italian referee, Maurizio Mariani, pointed to the penalty spot after Akturkoglu collapsed in the box. Jair Cunha appeared to make little contact with the Fenerbahce striker but was deemed to have tripped Akturkoglu, who made the most of a clumsy challenge and stepped up from 12 yards to beat Ortega.
The changes lifted Forest but Pereira was always going to rest players with Sunday’s trip to Brighton their fourth game in 11 days. “We need to go there with fuel,” said the Forest head coach. “When you change half of the team it is not easy to keep the level. I didn’t expect a fantastic game after changing so many players. After we conceded the first goal, we lost the confidence to play. It was difficult for me to do four subs at the same time but we needed to do it because the game came into a dangerous situation for us.”
After the penalty, Fenerbahce raced the ball back to the centre circle. Game on? Forest were faced with exactly the kind of scenario they must have dreaded, though the fear seemed to galvanise them. Jair Cunha and Nicolás Domínguez both fired shots at goal and Williams sent a swerving effort wide.
Forest commanded greater control and Pereira cut a relieved figure as his side re-established a two-goal aggregate buffer, a pair of substitutes combining to devastating effect. Aina chipped the ball towards the back post where Hudson-Odoi controlled brilliantly, twisted past Nelson Semedo, a half-time arrival himself, and prodded his shot into the far corner.
Pereira punched the air with both fists and the underlying tensions evaporated. Forest, for so long fraught with nerves, could finally rejoice. “We lost the chance to qualify at home in Kadikoy,” Tedesco said. “They most probably over-performed in our stadium and we underperformed. We leave the competition with our heads held high.”
