Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers vs Braga, and Additional – Europa League Coverage
Live Updates
Important Updates
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Goal scored!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Full-time: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Starting players: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Opening notes
Current Table
These early results strongly influence the league rankings. Celtic climbed to the 17th spot and are back in the protected qualification spots.
| Pos | Team | 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
Villa managed to hold on for the win and moved level on points with leaders Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. The English side had difficulty of that during the closing minutes.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys gave themselves a chance through Monteiro but had just additional time to get the tying goal!
Celtic Secure Victory
A memorable and crucial win for the Glasgow side. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Reo Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Latest Action
The Birmingham side, concurrently, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at their home ground.
Malen's double there triggered intense reactions in the away end, with Swiss fans engaging with police. Scuffles broke out and items launched at both the officers and onto the pitch, with Malen himself being caught on the head by a throwable object.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Forest: John Victor, The defender, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, Yates, Sangare, The midfielder, McAtee, The winger, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: The goalkeeper, Larsen, The center-back, The defender, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, The midfielder, The attacker, The forward, Busanello.
Official: The German referee (Germany)
Starting Players
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, The center-back, The defender, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, The striker.
Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.
Official: The Dutch referee (Holland)
Historical Context
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and memories of 1979. The two clubs have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship 46 years ago that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer the English forward netting the decisive goal of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory for the the English club.
"Forest's famous bosses, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the revelry," commented the writer. This represented an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from Second Division to European football in three seasons."
It's also interesting to consider Malmö, who became the initial and final Nordic team to reach the final under British coach Houghton.
The current fixture is a far cry from that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are full of confidence after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since early November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The smart money is on the home team tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this match tracking. The Scottish side have already been lost to a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are last place of the league rankings at the midpoint of the league phase with exactly zero. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a qualification place.
Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the most recent results from the previous games, including the Birmingham match and Feyenoord v Celtic.
