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“Champions of Europe, you’ll never sing that,” was chanted through the stadium as Forest followers celebrated another result against their Swedish opponents. Much has transpired since Francis's winning header clinched the continental trophy in the year 1979, but Forest still treasure those glorious moments. Similarly, significant changes have occurred in the five weeks since Sean Dyche took charge, with Forest appearing reinvigorated and securing a convincing win courtesy of goals from Arnaud Kalimuendo, Yates, and Milenkovic, boosting their hopes of progressing in the European competition.

Building Steam with Another Consecutive Victory

For Forest, this performance – against a Malmö side that had not played for almost three weeks after ending sixth in their home competition – represented a third consecutive win across all competitions and further built on the momentum generated from the previous week's success at Liverpool. While this fixture was a reminder of Forest’s historic triumph in spirit, the game itself was free of any real tension or jitters.

This was an occasion filled with sentiment, an eagerly awaited meeting and the third competitive meeting between the teams since the showpiece event 46 years ago.

Forest fully embraced the history, honoring the legends of 1979 by giving them, along with their Malmö counterparts, the VIP welcome. 13 members of the Swedish club’s squad from then were additionally in attendance. The two clubs shared a dinner together before the match. Forest legends and their teammates received a rousing reception when they assembled on the field 15 minutes before kick-off, and a typically superb tifo was unveiled in the home stand.

Remembering the Past

“30th May 1979, Robertson crossed it in from the left,” displayed half of a giant tifo, in capital letters. While nobody required a reminder of what happened next, the remaining section was revealed as the squads came out from the tunnel. “And there’s Francis,” it continued. A second stunning display depicted Brian Clough observing proceedings beside his right-hand man Peter Taylor on a bench at the Munich stadium.

Dominance from the Start

So, the hosts had soaked up those wonderful memories, but what about the performance on the evening? It was pretty good, as well. They were in full command from the moment the forward whistled an attempt off target inside the opening moments and built a 2-0 advantage by the half-time interval. Nicolás Domínguez sent an early header off target and then Abbott, on his maiden European start, tried his luck.

It seemed appropriate that Ryan Yates, who joined the club aged eight, made the initial breakthrough in the Malmö defense led by their own homegrown skipper, Pontus Jansson, previously of Leeds and Brentford FC. The Forest defender Nikola Milenkovic saw a delivery cannon off a defender and into the pathway of Yates, who swept home right-footed from just inside the penalty area to register his maiden strike since last March.

Another Strike Confirms Dominance

The scorer was implicated in the team's second goal on the verge of half-time, too, his unmarked header parried by Malmö’s shot-stopper Ellborg but Kalimuendo on hand to convert the rebound from close range. McAtee, the playmaker given a rare start and only his second outing since the autumn, was the spark, chipping a perfect ball towards his teammate at the far post.

Just moments before, Hudson-Odoi’s driven shot was turned wide off Malmö defender Rösler, the son of ex- Manchester City forward Uwe, and an unmarked Milenkovic had earlier had a strong header instinctively saved by Ellborg, who was back in place of the former Aston Villa goalie Robin Olsen.

Opponent's Struggles

This was Malmö’s initial game since the Swedish Allsvenskan concluded on 9 November, and they found it hard to equal Forest’s intensity. The Reds made it 3-0 when the defender scored after his centre-back partner Murillo kept alive a corner. Yates had a volley blocked, but the Serbian centre-back Milenkovic feasted on the rebound.

The home side then pushed for more, with Hudson-Odoi dinking a effort on to the bar before Sangaré sent an ambitious effort wide from 30 yards. It was that kind of evenings. Dyche, aware of the upcoming domestic fixture here against Brighton, made seven changes from the side that surprised the Reds at Anfield last weekend, when they also netted three times, though he called on Elliot Anderson, Dan Ndoye and Igor Jesus during the second half.

Smooth Evening for Forest

It turned out to be a flawless night for Nottingham Forest. Dyche could take off Murillo with the game long since sewn up and later introduced 19-year-old full-back Jimmy Sinclair for his first-team debut. He talked about the Forest old guard providing “bits of gold” at weekly get-togethers and, almost five decades on, the present squad demonstrated they are capable of a few nuggets of thrills, too.