Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and More – Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Full-time: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Game over: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Team news: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Lineups revealed: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Preamble
League Position
The opening scores greatly affect the Europa League table. The Glasgow side rose to the 17th spot and are back in the safety of qualification spots.
| Rank | Side | Matches | 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 |
Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Villa managed to hold on for the three points and went equal on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the summit of the competition table. The Birmingham club struggled of that in the final stages.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys earned a chance through Monteiro but were left with additional time to get the tying goal!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A significant and important win for the Scottish team. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from the Korean forward, Hatate and the Swedish striker.
Latest Action
Villa, meanwhile, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at the stadium.
The Dutch forward's brace there sparked furious scenes in the opposition stands, with visiting fans engaging with police. Physical altercations occurred and items launched at both the officers and toward the field, with the goalscorer being hit on the head by a plastic cup.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Nottingham Forest: John Victor, Abbott, The center-back, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, The midfielder, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: Ellborg, The defender, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, The attacker, The forward, Busanello.
Official: The German referee (from Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Light Blues: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, The striker.
The Arsenalistas: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Official: Lindhout (Netherlands)
Preamble
Forest vs Malmö and historical connections. The these sides have a special connection, also competing in Forest's last European campaign in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the European Cup final 46 years ago that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer Francis heading the only goal of a rather dull championship game to secure historic victory for the red half of Nottingham.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the mafficking," noted the journalist. Their achievement was an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to European stage in a short period."
Worth mentioning to pause a little on Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Nordic team to make the championship match under English manager Bob Houghton.
Tonight's game 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 Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The smart money is on the Forest tonight.
Additional games on offer in this live coverage. Rangers have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the league rankings at the midpoint of the group stage with exactly zero. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a late surge for a knockout position.
We'll keep you up to date with all the evening matches and provide the current standings from the previous games, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
