Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers v Braga, and More – Europa League Coverage
Live Updates
Key Events
- Full-time: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Full-time: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Lineups announced: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Lineups revealed: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Opening notes
League Position
These early results have significant impact on the Europa League table. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and regained position in the safety of playoff places.
| Position | Team | Matches | Difference | 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
Aston Villa secured for the three points and moved level on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the top of the group rankings. The English side made hard work of that in the final stages.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys earned a lifeline through Monteiro but had just stoppage time to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A famous and valuable win for the Glasgow side. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang, Hatate and the Swedish striker.
Latest Action
Villa, concurrently, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's double there sparked furious scenes in the away end, with Young Boys supporters engaging with police. Scuffles broke out and items launched at both the officers and onto the pitch, with the goalscorer being struck in the head by a plastic cup.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Nottingham Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, The midfielder, The defensive midfielder, The midfielder, McAtee, The winger, The striker.
Malmö: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, The defender, The full-back, The midfielder, The midfielder, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Referee: Osmers (Germany)
Starting Players
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Arsenalistas: The goalkeeper, Gomez, The center-back, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.
Referee: Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Preamble
Forest vs Malmö and historical connections. The these sides have a special connection, also competing in Forest's most recent continental tour in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the European Cup final from 1979 that connects these teams, with the record-breaking signing the English forward netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to secure historic victory for the red half of Nottingham.
"Forest's famous bosses, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the mafficking," noted the journalist. Theirs has been an extraordinary accomplishment that it is unlikely to be replicated – from Second Division to European football in three seasons."
One should note to pause a little on Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Swedish club to advance to the ultimate game under manager Houghton.
The current fixture is a far cry from that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are absolutely buzzing after thrashing Liverpool at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since 9 November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The general expectation is on the English side tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this clockwatch. Rangers have already been lost to a European rival this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the league rankings at the middle of the league phase with no points whatsoever. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a comeback for a knockout position.
Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the latest scores from the earlier matches, including Villa vs Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
