Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Final whistle: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- GOAL!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Game over: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Team news: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Starting players: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Opening notes
Latest Standings
The opening scores strongly influence the competition standings. The Glasgow side rose to the 17th spot and returned to the safety of playoff places.
| Pos | Club | Played | Goal Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the win and became tied on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the top of the league phase standings. Villa struggled of that during the closing minutes.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys gave themselves a chance through Monteiro but were left with four more minutes to get the tying goal!
Celtic Secure Victory
A memorable and crucial win for the Scottish team. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and Nygren.
Game Developments
Aston Villa, at the same time, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at Villa Park.
Malen's second goal there triggered intense reactions in the opposition stands, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Physical altercations occurred and objects thrown at both the officers and onto the pitch, with the player being hit on the head by a drinking vessel.
Starting XI Revealed
Nottingham Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
Malmö: Ellborg, The defender, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: Osmers (from Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Light Blues: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, The defender, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Referee: Lindhout (Holland)
Historical Context
Forest vs Malmö and memories of 1979. The two clubs have a unique relationship, also competing in Forest's most recent continental tour in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the European Cup final decades past that connects these teams, with Britain's first £1m player the English forward heading the only goal of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the Forest supporters.
"Forest's famous bosses, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the mafficking," noted the journalist. Their achievement was an extraordinary accomplishment that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to European football in three seasons."
It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the initial and final Swedish club to make the championship match under manager Houghton.
The current fixture is a very different to that summit, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are riding high after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since early November following the end of the Swedish league season. The general expectation is on the Forest tonight.
Additional games on offer in this live coverage. The Glasgow club have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the 36-team Europa League standings at the half-way stage of the group stage with no points whatsoever. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a playoff spot.
We'll keep you up to date with all the evening matches and provide the current standings from the earlier matches, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
