Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers vs Braga, and More – Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Final whistle: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Goal scored!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Full-time: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Team news: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Preamble
Latest Standings
The initial outcomes have significant impact on the league rankings. Celtic have moved up to 17th place and are back in the safety of qualification spots.
| Rank | Club | P | Goal Difference | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Midtjylland | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 5 | 5 | 12 |
| 3 | Freiburg | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 4 | Ferencvaros | 5 | 4 | 11 |
| 5 | FC Porto | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 17 | Celtic | 5 | -1 | 7 |
| 25 | Nottm Forest | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 35 | Rangers | 4 | -7 | 0 |
| 33 | Malmo FF | 4 | -5 | 1 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
The English side clung on for the win and became tied on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the top of the group rankings. Villa made hard work of that at the end.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys gave themselves a hope through Monteiro but had just stoppage time to score the leveler!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A memorable and crucial win for the Celtic. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, the Japanese midfielder and Benjamin Nygren.
Latest Action
Aston Villa, concurrently, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at Villa Park.
Malen's second goal there caused dramatic events in the away end, with Swiss fans engaging with police. Scuffles broke out and objects thrown at both the officers and at the playing surface, with the goalscorer being caught on the head by a drinking vessel.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: The goalkeeper, Larsen, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Referee: Osmers (German)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, The center-back, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Horta.
Referee: Lindhout (Netherlands)
Preamble
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and past encounters. The two clubs have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's most recent continental tour in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the European Cup final 46 years ago that entwines these two together, with Britain's first £1m player the English forward heading the only goal of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory for the red half of Nottingham.
"Forest's famous bosses, unassuming and low-key amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the celebrations," wrote the match reporter. Their achievement was an extraordinary accomplishment that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to European football in just three years."
It's also interesting to consider Malmö, who became the initial and final Swedish club to advance to the ultimate game under British coach Houghton.
This match is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are full of confidence after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The smart money is on the Forest tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this live coverage. The Glasgow club have already been defeated by a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are at the foot of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the group stage with no points whatsoever. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a comeback for a knockout position.
Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the most recent results from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
