Ange Postecoglou watched his Nottingham Forest side leave Spain last night with a Europa League opening night point from Real Betis.
Forest did the unthinkable last season under Nuno Espirito Santo and qualified for the Europa League through their incredible seventh placed finish in the Premier League table.
It was a successful campaign for Nuno before he left Forest and was replaced by Postecoglou whose side last night earned what was a respectable opening point in a 2-2 draw at the Estadio La Cartuja.
The English outfit found themselves a goal down to a Cedric Bakambu opener before new signing Igor Jesus found the leveller a few moments later.
Jesus then silenced the hosts with a second but it was former Manchester United ace Antony who nabbed an equaliser with just five or so minutes to go of the action to seal a point-a-piece for both sides.
Postecoglou described the performance from his lads as having some “beauty” in the style of play they put on for the visiting fans who made the trip to Seville.
Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic record in Europe gives Forest hope after draw
And those supporters can take the result as a positive given how Forest have started their domestic season out of the Carabao Cup and sitting 15th in the division.
A point away from home in Europe can also been seen as a strong result given Postecoglou’s own record on that stage.
The obvious comparison comes with Tottenham last season when Ange and his squad lifted the trophy as part of the boss’ vow to always win silverware in his second season.
But perhaps Forest can look closer to his time at Celtic as a more realistic and pragmatic gauge for where the Australian can expect to guide his club.
At the Hoops, Postecoglou won three Europa League group outings from six with victories over, ironically, Betis and Ferencvaros twice.
In qualifiers they went three wins from four while their Champions League run ended without a victory from six group stage games, albeit they were praised for taking heavy-hitters like Real Madrid to their limit at times in Glasgow.
What Postecoglou said after Real Betis vs Nottingham Forest
Their Conference League time under Ange ended with two defeats from two in qualifying with losses to Bodo/Glimt home and away.
So it is fair to say for Forest’s first foray into the competition in a number of years, a point away from home to start with is respectable.
On the match itself, Postecoglou said: “I think the moments when they’re constructed like that are things that make our game so beautiful and I loved it.
“I think it wasn’t just that move, there were four or five moves that were quite similar that, like I said, were really exciting.
“But we are in the results business and ultimately we need to now convert our good play into victories, but I think that’ll come if we keep playing like that.
“I think it’s exciting. I still like teams that play like that. I want my teams to play like that. I want my teams to score goals like that.
“But if one goes in in front of the boys’ backsides, I won’t be disappointed with that either at the moment because we’re just missing a little bit of luck going our way.”
