Nottingham Forest face Real Betis in their Europa League opener on Wednesday night, with two former Manchester United players set to feature against the Premier League side.
There won’t be many midweek games for Manchester United after failing to qualify for European competition this season.
Ruben Amorim’s side missed out on Champions League qualification when they lost the Europa League final against Tottenham last term. One of the objectives for the 2025/26 campaign is to get back into Europe’s most prestigious competition.
However, United have many former players involved in European competition, as well as loanees such as Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford.
Rashford scored a brace in Barcelona’s win over Newcastle in the Champions League last week, while Hojlund struggled against Man City.
The Europa League presents an opportunity for more former United players to achieve European glory.
On Wednesday night, Antony and Sofyan Amrabat are likely to start for Real Betis when they take on Nottingham Forest in the Europa League.
Antony’s impressive record against Nottingham Forest
Although Nuno Espirito Santo was responsible for leading Nottingham Forest to Europa League qualification, Ange Postecoglou replaced the Portuguese coach and is still searching for his first win with his new side.
Postecoglou was in charge of Tottenham for their Europa League triumph over United, with Forest hopeful he can deliver similar success for them.
One player trying to prevent that from happening is Antony, as Real Betis aim to start their European campaign with a win. The Brazilian played a key role in securing qualification for the competition during his loan stint at the club during the second half of last season.
Antony already boasts an impressive record against Forest from his time at United, having played seven matches against them, which resulted in six wins and one defeat.
| Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals | Assists |
| 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Furthermore, Antony’s best performance for United came against Forest, back in April 2023 – scoring his first goal in six months and producing his first assist as a United player when Diogo Dalot secured three points for the Red Devils.
Forest display earned Antony comparison to Arjen Robben
After United’s 2-0 win over Forest in 2023, Antony received high praise from then-manager Erik ten Hag.
Antony opened the scoring when he slid in to meet a rebound. In the second half, the Brazil international brought the ball inside from the left wing to assist Dalot to double United’s lead.
This led to Ten Hag comparing Antony to ex-Bayern Munich and Chelsea star Robben.
“He is so good on the inside,” Ten Hag said to reporters, as quoted by Goal.
“So, I’ve seen for instance Arjen Robben a lot. They say he has only one trick but that one trick was so brilliant no one can stop it.”
Antony has made two appearances since returning to Real Betis in the summer.
Manuel Pellegrini has urged fans to be patient with Antony.
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