Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers vs Braga, and More – Europa League News
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Game over: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Lineups revealed: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Preamble
League Position
The opening scores strongly influence the competition standings. Celtic climbed to 17th place and are back in the protected qualification spots.
| Pos | Club | Matches | 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 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
The English side clung on for the win and moved level on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the top of the group rankings. The Birmingham club struggled of that in the final stages.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
The Swiss side created a chance through Monteiro but were left with additional time to find an equaliser!
Celtic Secure Victory
A famous and valuable win for the Glasgow side. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Reo Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Game Developments
Villa, at the same time, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at the stadium.
Malen's double there sparked furious scenes in the away end, with Young Boys supporters clashing with police. Physical altercations occurred and projectiles hurled at both the police and onto the pitch, with the player being hit on the head by a throwable object.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, The midfielder, The defensive midfielder, The midfielder, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: The goalkeeper, Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: Osmers (German)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
Rangers: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, The defender, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, The striker.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, Navarro, The striker.
Match official: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Preamble
Forest vs Malmö and historical connections. The two clubs have a historical link, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship from 1979 that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer Trevor Francis heading the only goal of a largely forgettable match to clinch eternal glory for the the English club.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, modestly dressed amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the celebrations," commented the writer. Theirs has been an extraordinary accomplishment that it is hard to see being repeated – from Second Division to European stage in a short period."
Worth mentioning to pause a little on Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Swedish club to make the championship match under manager Houghton.
Tonight's game is a very different to that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are riding high after thrashing Liverpool at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The popular prediction is on the English side tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this match tracking. The Glasgow club have already been lost to a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the league phase with no points whatsoever. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a playoff spot.
Coverage will persist with all the evening matches and provide the latest scores from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
