Goals from Murillo, Igor Jesus and Morgan Gibbs-White secured a winning start to life as Forest boss for Vitor Pereira, who was even able to rest key players with plenty of time to go in Turkiye.

Shortly after Mert Muldur headed over the target for Fenerbahce, Murillo opened the scoring in stunning fashion. He dribbled through the opposition defence before firing into the bottom-right corner from distance in the 21st minute.

The host side saw a penalty appeal denied after a VAR check when the ball struck Murillo's arm, though it was by his side, and its misery grew before the break when Jesus headed in from a yard out after Gibbs-White flicked on a corner.

The Brazilian striker then returned the favour five minutes into the second half, squaring the ball to Gibbs-White in the box, and the England international managed to sneak his shot through the legs of Ederson despite losing his balance.

Marco Asensio saw a flick easily denied by Stefan Ortega before Callum Hudson-Odoi was kept out by Ederson at the other end, as Forest held onto their three-goal advantage ahead of the second leg at the City Ground next week.