Finishing in the top eight was always unrealistic for Forest tonight, but that didn’t prevent them from flying out of the traps to solidify their spot as a seeded side in the play-off round.
Ibrahim Sangaré fired an early warning sign to the Hungarian visitors, before Dan Ndoye did the same by jinking into the area and blasting an effort against the legs of Dávid Gróf.
Ferencváros, though, were unable to quieten the hosts, and they fell behind shortly after in comical circumstances. Ryan Yates’ teasing ball into the area looked to be of no danger at all, but Bence Ötvös still bundled the ball into his own goal.
Robbie Keane’s side self-imploded after falling behind, and after turning the ball over high in Ferencváros’ half, Igor Jesus strode forward and found the bottom corner from the edge of the area to double Forest’s advantage.
The hosts’ onslaught was relentless at times and the impressive James McAtee ought to have added a third when his near-post header forced a smart save out of Gróf.
Forest’s onslaught continued after half time, with a raft of chances arriving in the opening 10 minutes.
Nicolás Domínguez’s deft header came back off the post prior to Ndoye testing Gróf once more as Sean Dyche’s men sought to wrap up the game.
A third goal duly arrived on 55 minutes when a hopeful Sangaré ball forward was turned into a good one by Jesus, who watched the ball come over his shoulder, held off an opponent and hammered home a right-footed volley.
Dyche was afforded the luxury of making changes knowing the game was wrapped up, but Jesus was the victim of that as he missed the chance to become the first-ever Forest player to score a European hat-trick.
The closing stages ended up being a bit of a non-event, with Ferencváros having too much work to do to get back into the top eight, while Forest had done all they could only to ultimately fall short.
McAtee rounded off a perfect evening for the hosts when he converted from the penalty spot after Ötvös dragged Ndoye to the floor, as Forest cruised to a third successive European win for the first time since 1978/79.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Igor Jesus (Nottingham Forest)