Nottingham Forest secured a 2:1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in a Club Friendlies fixture on 12 August 2026, a result that came as a surprise given both sides' recent form. The hosts opened the scoring through D. Ndoye in the fourth minute, then saw P. Schick equalise for the visitors before half-time. Forest held on to take all three points, with a late goal sealing the win.
There was something curious about how the match unfolded, and here's the thing — both teams made complete reshuffles at the break. Forest brought on Murillo, N. Milenkovic, N. Williams, I. Sangare, M. Gibbs-White, X. Schlager, O. Aina, Igor Jesus, D. Ndoye, M. Terrier, M. Gutierrez and L. Bade. Leverkusen responded with M. Tillman, P. Schick, I. Maza, E. Poku and E. Fernandez at the same interval. That's eleven changes each side, which says something about how they were using this game.
Leverkusen dominated possession and territory after the break, but Forest made them work for it. The visitors registered 82 attacks compared to Forest's 62, yet the hosts claimed eight corners to Leverkusen's two. By then the match had settled into a pattern where Leverkusen pressed forward but Forest looked dangerous on the counter-attack.
What stood out was how both sides managed their resources. Forest added J. Belocian and Lucas in the 79th minute, while Leverkusen made no further changes after their initial reshuffle. The statistics tell a story of control without penetration — 82 attacks and only two corners suggests Leverkusen struggled to create clear-cut opportunities.
This result interests me more than the numbers alone. Forest had lost their previous three friendlies, including defeats to Barcelona and Udinese, while Leverkusen had won their last four matches comfortably. To see Forest rescue a point against a side that had been in such flowing form says something about the character on show.
The final whistle brought a sense that this was a fixture where the result mattered less than what each team took from it. For Forest, it was a chance to test combinations after a difficult start to preparations. For Leverkusen, it was another opportunity to integrate players ahead of the competitive season.