Nottingham Forest promotion winner Philip Zinckernagel and ex-Reds duo Joao Carvalho and Andreas Bouchalakis are out of the Champions League. The trio were all involved as Olympiacos were dumped out of the competition by Maccabi Haifa. After a 1-1 draw in Israel, the Evangelos Marinakis-owned team were hugely fancied to finish the job on home soil. The Champions League dream became a nightmare though, with Olympiacos on the wrong end of a 4-0 thrashing.

Goals from former QPR man Tjaronn Chery, two from Frantzdy Pierrot and a late goal from Mohammad Abu Fani ensure a night of misery. Pedro Martins might have some explaining to do. Marinakis is proud of the club’s Champions League inclusion and this won’t do. All is not lost for the club. Their defeat means they will now enter the Europa League in the third qualifying round.

Three former Forest players were on show during the fateful night. Zinckernagel helped the Reds reach the Premier League last season, starting in the play-off final at Wembley. He scored for Olympiacos in last week’s first leg but was hooked off at 63 minutes following a quiet game last night. Carvalho was introduced as a second-half substitute, replacing former Reds midfielder Bouchalakis.
He was unable to get the team going and now their participation in the Champions League is over. Former Nottingham Forest trio out of the Champions League. This is a huge blow. It’s no secret that both Carvalho and Zinckernagel will have been attracted to Olympiacos given the Champions League football on offer. The duo should still get to play in Europe but it won’t be in the elite club competition.
For Zinckernagel, this will be an unfamiliar feeling. After winning in play-off semi-finals and play-off finals last season, he’d become accustomed to success. He will hope to build on a tremendous last season domestically now when the league gets underway in Greece. During 2021/22 he scored seven goals and claimed 10 assists as Forest won promotion.