The group draw ceremony for the 05-06 season of UEFA Champions League had just ended. Nottingham Forest drew Group D. Included in the same group were La Liga's powerhouse, Real Madrid; last season's champions of the Primeira Liga, S.L. Benfica; and the previous runner-up in France Ligue 1, Lille.
To Forest Team, the abilities of that group were far from weak; any one of those teams could bring them a lot of trouble.
Lille was perhaps the only opponent they could hold any kind of expectation for.
Real Madrid had practically made reservations on one of the advancement slots; no one would doubt that. No one believed that Real Madrid would be unable to advance from a mere group stage. That meant there was only one more advancement placement left amongst Benfica, Lille, and Nottingham Forest.
