After they defeated Portsmouth in the away game, the Forest team overcame another obstacle. Portsmouth, fighting to avoid relegation, did not cause them much trouble.

Following this, Twain temporarily shifted his focus from the league tournament to the Champions League.

In the semi-finals, Nottingham Forest's opponent was the France Ligue 1 dominant leader, Lyon.

Although it had always been the France Ligue 1 champion and a well-deserved overlord, this team was the weakest in the Champions League quarterfinals. Their strength was not in the same league as Nottingham Forest. There was some element of luck for them to reach the Champions League quarterfinals this time.

The immediate consequence of Lyon, the dominant team in the France Ligue 1 was the lack of competitiveness from the France Ligue 1 team in the European arena. How good could a team be if the league was not competitive?

There was a consensus in the media that the Forest team would make it to the final, and the English