Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers vs Braga, and Additional – Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Full-time: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Goal scored!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Game over: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Starting players: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Preamble
Current Table
The opening scores greatly affect the league rankings. Celtic have moved up to 17th place and are back in the secure knockout positions.
| Pos | Club | P | 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 |
Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the win and became tied on points with leaders Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. The Birmingham club made hard work of that at the end.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys earned a lifeline through Monteiro but only have four more minutes to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A memorable and crucial win for the Celtic. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang, Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Game Developments
Aston Villa, meanwhile, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at the stadium.
The Dutch forward's brace there triggered intense reactions in the opposition stands, with Swiss fans clashing with police. Punches were thrown and items launched at both the officers and toward the field, with the player being hit on the head by a throwable object.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, The center-back, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, Kalimuendo.
The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, Duric, The full-back, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, The midfielder, Bolin, The forward, Busanello.
Match official: The German referee (Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, The midfielder, The midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, The forward, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, The midfielder, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.
Match official: Allard Lindhout (Holland)
Historical Context
Forest vs Malmö and memories of 1979. The both teams have a historical link, also facing each other in Forest's most recent continental tour in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the European Cup final decades past that entwines these two together, with the groundbreaking transfer Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory for the red half of Nottingham.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, modestly dressed amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the revelry," noted the journalist. Their achievement was an extraordinary accomplishment that it is unlikely to be replicated – from Second Division to European football in just three years."
One should note to consider Malmö, who became the initial and final Scandinavian side to make the championship match under British coach Houghton.
Tonight's game is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are riding high after beating Liverpool 3-0 at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The general expectation is on the English side tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been beaten by a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the middle of the league phase with precisely zero points. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a knockout position.
Coverage will persist with all the evening matches and provide the most recent results from the concluded fixtures, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
