Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Score!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Game over: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Lineups announced: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Starting players: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Preamble
Latest Standings
The opening scores strongly influence the Europa League table. Celtic have moved up to 17th position and regained position in the secure qualification spots.
| Rank | Club | P | GD | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
The English side clung on for the victory and became tied on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the peak of the competition table. The Birmingham club had difficulty of that in the final stages.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys earned a chance through Monteiro but had just stoppage time to get the tying goal!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A memorable and crucial win for the Celtic. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, the Japanese midfielder and Nygren.
Match Updates
Villa, at the same time, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at their home ground.
Malen's second goal there caused dramatic events in the opposition stands, with visiting fans clashing with police. Punches were thrown and items launched at both the officers and at the playing surface, with the player being hit on the head by a throwable object.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
The Reds: Victor, The defender, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, The midfielder, The attacker, The winger, Kalimuendo.
The Swedish side: Ellborg, The defender, Jansson, Duric, The full-back, The midfielder, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, The forward, Busanello.
Match official: Osmers (from Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, The defender, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, The striker.
Braga: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, The full-back, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Ricardo Horta.
Official: Allard Lindhout (Holland)
Historical Context
The European clash and historical connections. The two clubs have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's last European campaign in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the European Cup final 46 years ago that entwines these two together, with the record-breaking signing Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a rather dull championship game to claim legendary status for the Forest supporters.
"Forest's famous bosses, modestly dressed amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the revelry," commented the writer. Theirs has been an extraordinary accomplishment that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from second tier to European stage in just three years."
One should note to reflect upon Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Swedish club to reach the final under English manager Bob Houghton.
Tonight's game is a far cry from that summit, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are absolutely buzzing after thrashing Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since early November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The smart money is on the Forest tonight.
Additional games on offer in this clockwatch. Rangers have already been lost to a European rival this season. Rangers are at the foot of the competition table at the midpoint of the league phase with no points whatsoever. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a comeback for a qualification place.
We'll keep you up to date with all the evening matches and provide the latest scores from the concluded fixtures, including Villa vs Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
