NOTTINGHAM FOREST FACE EUROPA LEAGUE PLAY-OFF NIGHTMARE AFTER DISASTROUS RYAN YATES OWN GOAL
Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 loss to Braga leaves Sean Dyche under fire as Lorenzo Lucca arrives for a medical to solve the striker crisis.
Sean Dyche and his players didn’t just hear the boos from Nottingham Forest fans in Portugal—they felt every bit of it. Ryan Yates’ own goal summed up a night that went from bad to worse, especially after Elliot Anderson picked up a red card late on. The mood? Flat, frustrated, and just about fed up.
Now Forest’s hopes of cracking the top eight in the Europa League group are hanging by a thread. They need a win over Ferencvaros at the City Ground next week just to make the play-off round. Even that doesn’t seem to be enough for the fans, who made it clear they’ve had it.
It all unravelled so quickly. Gibbs-White missed a penalty, and less than a minute later, Yates tried to cut out a cross and ended up scoring at the wrong end. You can forgive a freak goal if the team’s fighting, but the 2,100 Forest fans who made the trip weren’t buying it. They booed the players off at half-time and let them have it again in the second half. Some even started chanting, “Sideways and backwards, everywhere we go,” as Forest struggled to lay a glove on Braga.
The dig at Dyche’s style wasn’t subtle. He’s always drawn flak for his direct approach, but this was something else.
Yates’ own goal sealed the defeat. Braga’s subs piled onto the pitch to celebrate, while Gibbs-White could only think about his missed penalty. Nobody in a Forest shirt escaped the crowd’s anger. New signings Bakwa and McAtee were booed as they went off, and Dyche is desperate for a reaction at Brentford on Saturday to calm things down.
He brought on Anderson, Hudson-Odoi, and Williams in the second half, and honestly, all three look set to start at Brentford. Dyche had shuffled his eleven, making seven changes, and with Igor Jesus out hurt, Forest didn’t even have a real striker. That could change if Lorenzo Lucca’s loan from Napoli goes through—he might debut on Sunday, assuming he passes his medical.
The first half barely offered anything worth remembering. Gibbs-White forced a save from Hornicek, while Martinez should’ve put Braga ahead but headed wide. After the break, Horta missed a sitter for Braga, but then Forest nearly stole the lead. Martinez bundled McAtee over in the box, and after a long delay, Gibbs-White stepped up... and Hornicek saved.
And then, just seconds later, disaster. Horta found space, Yates got tangled up trying to clear, and the ball trickled into his own goal. Forest fans groaned louder. Gibbs-White tried to make up for it but blasted over, and Ola Aina rattled the crossbar with a thunderbolt. Braga hit the post on a counter, then in a chaotic scramble, Ndoye and Yates almost levelled things, but it just wasn’t their night.
Let’s be honest: Forest were poor. Braga weren’t much better. But with UEFA stretching these group stages to protect the big clubs and rake in more cash, you end up with nights like this—matches that feel almost pointless. Both teams knew losing didn’t really change much. That’s what hurts the most.
CRISTIANO RONALDO PROTESTS AL-HILAL'S BENZEMA DEAL BY SKIPPING AL-NASSR LEAGUE MATCH
Cristiano Ronaldo is fuming. Discover why the Al-Nassr star skipped his last match and is now threatening to leave Saudi Arabia.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been the main attraction in the Saudi Pro League ever since he landed in the Middle East three years ago. Now, for the first time, it looks like he’s actually thinking about leaving. He’s frustrated. He feels the playing field isn’t level, and it’s starting to get to him.
Here’s the deal: Four clubs in the league—Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, and Al-Ahli—get their backing straight from the state. But Ronaldo sat out Al-Nassr’s match against Al-Riyadh on Monday night. Why? He was protesting. He found out Al-Hilal was about to sign Karim Benzema from Al-Ittihad, and that was the last straw. From Ronaldo’s perspective, Al-Hilal keeps getting more freedom to splash cash than everyone else. They’re the current champions, and Ronaldo still hasn’t managed to win his first Saudi title.
Saudi officials tried to calm him down. According to Diario AS, they reached out and argued that most of Al-Hilal’s extra spending comes from Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, not the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Al-Hilal just brought in Kader Meite for €30 million, Saimon Bouabre for €23 million, and now Benzema. Al-Nassr, on the other hand, only managed two free transfers this winter. Sure, they spent a lot more in the summer, but that didn’t seem to matter to Ronaldo.
Reports from Portugal, cited by AS, say Ronaldo’s not ruling anything out—not even leaving Saudi Arabia this summer. That’s despite just signing an extension with Al-Nassr until 2027.
And honestly, he has a point. Since he arrived, Al-Hilal have spent €647 million, while Al-Nassr have shelled out €410 million and Al-Ittihad €365 million. These numbers probably don’t include salaries—and let’s face it, nobody’s making more than Ronaldo. He’s supposed to return on Friday when Al-Nassr face Al-Ittihad, but right now, no one really knows if he’ll play or if he’s planning his next move.
N’GOLO KANTE SKIPS TRAINING AS AL-ITTIHAD BLOCK HIS MOVE TO FENERBAHCE OFFICIALLY
N’Golo Kante has gone on strike at Al-Ittihad after a paperwork error blocked his move to Fenerbahce. Can he still sign by Friday?
N’Golo Kanté didn’t show up for Al-Ittihad training on Tuesday, and it’s not hard to see why. He was all set to head to Fenerbahçe, but the deal fell apart at the last minute—apparently because Al-Ittihad messed up some paperwork. Kante was supposed to fly to Istanbul and sign, but thanks to this administrative slip, he’s stuck in limbo. There’s still a shot at reviving the transfer sinceKanté Turkey’s transfer window stays open until Friday, February 6.
Kante was one of the first big European names to jump to the Saudi Pro League, joining Al-Ittihad in 2023 after seven years with Chelsea. He’s been a key player in Jeddah, helping Al-Ittihad win the 2024-25 league title and the King’s Cup.
Then, in the middle of the January window, word got out that Fenerbahce wanted him. The Turkish club were eager to add a World Cup winner to their squad. The plan was to swap Kante for Youssef En-Nesyri, who’d head to Saudi Arabia. Everything seemed set until deadline day, when news broke that an error by Al-Ittihad in the Transfer Matching System stopped the transfer cold.
Fenerbahce didn’t hold back. They blamed Al-Ittihad directly, saying they’d done everything right: agreements with the players, medicals, paperwork, all wrapped up on time. But Al-Ittihad entered something wrong in the system, and that was that. Fenerbahçe even asked for an extension and reached out to FIFA, but nothing moved. In the end, the deal died, and Fenerbahçe put out a statement saying they understood the frustration and would keep working to strengthen the squad.
Meanwhile, Kante’s making his feelings clear. According to Ben Jacobs, he skipped training on Tuesday, still hoping the move to Fenerbahce can happen. Santi Aouna says talks between the clubs aren’t dead yet. L’Equipe is reporting that Kanté doesn’t want to play for Al-Ittihad while he waits for FIFA’s decision. With the Turkish window open until Friday, there’s still a glimmer of hope for Kante, though En-Nesyri’s move is off the table for now.