Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers vs Braga, and More – Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Goal scored!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Game over: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Starting players: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Introduction
Latest Standings
These early results have significant impact on the league rankings. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and regained position in the safety of knockout positions.
| Rank | Team | 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 went equal on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. Villa made hard work of that at the end.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
The Swiss side created a chance through Monteiro but were left with stoppage time to get the tying goal!
Celtic Secure Victory
A famous and valuable win for the Glasgow side. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from Yang, Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Latest Action
The Birmingham side, at the same time, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at the stadium.
The Dutch forward's brace there caused dramatic events in the visitors' section, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Scuffles broke out and objects thrown at both the authorities and toward the field, with the player being caught on the head by a drinking vessel.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Nottingham Forest: The goalkeeper, The defender, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: Ellborg, Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: The German referee (German)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Ricardo Horta.
Match official: Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Match Background
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and past encounters. The both teams have a unique relationship, also competing in Forest's previous European adventure in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the continental championship decades past that links these clubs, with the groundbreaking transfer the English forward netting the decisive goal of a largely forgettable match 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 quietly watching the celebrations," noted the journalist. This represented an outstanding achievement that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from Second Division to European football in just three years."
One should note to pause a little on Malmö, who became the initial and final Swedish club to advance to the ultimate game under British coach Houghton.
Tonight's game is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are riding high after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The smart money is on the home team tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this clockwatch. The Glasgow club have already been lost to a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are at the foot of the 36-team Europa League standings at the half-way stage of the initial phase with no points whatsoever. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a late surge for a knockout position.
We'll keep you up to date with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the current standings from the previous games, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.
