Forest vs Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – UEFA Europa League Coverage
Live Updates
Key Events
- Final whistle: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- GOAL!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Game over: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Lineups announced: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Team news: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Preamble
Current Table
These early results greatly affect the Europa League table. Celtic climbed to 17th place and returned to the protected knockout positions.
| Rank | 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 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the victory and became tied on points with leaders Midtjylland at the peak of the league phase standings. The English side made hard work of that at the end.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
The Swiss side created a lifeline through Monteiro but had just four more minutes to find an equaliser!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A famous and valuable win for the Scottish team. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Reo Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Game Developments
Villa, at the same time, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at Villa Park.
Malen's second goal there triggered intense reactions in the opposition stands, with Swiss fans engaging with police. Scuffles broke out and objects thrown at both the officers and toward the field, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a drinking vessel.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Referee: Harm Osmers (German)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Light Blues: Butland, The defender, Fernandez, The defender, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, The defender, The center-back, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, The forward, Ricardo Horta.
Match official: Lindhout (Holland)
Historical Context
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and historical connections. The two clubs have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the European Cup final 46 years ago that links these clubs, with the groundbreaking transfer Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory for the red half of Nottingham.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the revelry," commented the writer. Their achievement was an outstanding achievement that it is unlikely to be replicated – from second tier to European football in just three years."
It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the initial and final Nordic team to reach the final under English manager Bob Houghton.
The current fixture is a distant from that summit, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are absolutely buzzing after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the end of the Swedish league season. The smart money is on the English side 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 last place of the competition table at the midpoint of the group stage with no points whatsoever. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any hope of making a late surge for a qualification place.
We'll keep you up to date with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the latest scores from the concluded fixtures, including Villa vs Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.
