Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and More – Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Full-time: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Score!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Full-time: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Starting XI: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Team news: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Preamble
Latest Standings
The initial outcomes greatly affect the competition standings. Celtic climbed to the 17th spot and regained position in the protected playoff places.
| Rank | Club | Matches | GD | 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 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Villa managed to hold on for the victory and moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the group rankings. The English side made hard work of that in the final stages.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys earned a hope through Monteiro but only have four more minutes to get the tying goal!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A famous and valuable win for the Scottish team. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, the Japanese midfielder and Nygren.
Latest Action
The Birmingham side, meanwhile, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at Villa Park.
The Dutch forward's brace there sparked furious scenes in the away end, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Punches were thrown and projectiles hurled at both the officers and toward the field, with Malen himself being caught on the head by a throwable object.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Nottingham Forest: The goalkeeper, The defender, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, The midfielder, McAtee, The winger, The striker.
The Swedish side: Ellborg, Larsen, Jansson, The defender, The full-back, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, The forward, The striker.
Referee: Harm Osmers (Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, The center-back, The defender, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, The midfielder, Gassama, The forward, The striker.
Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, Navarro, The striker.
Match official: Allard Lindhout (Holland)
Preamble
Forest vs Malmö and memories of 1979. The two clubs have a special connection, also competing in Forest's most recent continental tour in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the premier competition final 46 years ago that links these clubs, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis heading the only goal of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the red half of Nottingham.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, modestly dressed amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the mafficking," wrote the match reporter. This represented an extraordinary accomplishment that it is unlikely to be replicated – from the lower league to European stage in just three years."
It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Swedish club to reach the final under manager Houghton.
This match is a far cry from that summit, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are absolutely buzzing after thrashing Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the end of the Swedish league season. The popular prediction is on the Forest tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this match tracking. 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 middle of the league phase with precisely zero points. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a qualification place.
We'll keep you up to date with all the evening matches and provide the current standings from the previous games, including Villa vs Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.
