Forest vs Malmö, Rangers vs Braga, and Additional – UEFA Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Final whistle: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Score!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Full-time: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Team news: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Lineups revealed: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Opening notes
Current Table
The opening scores greatly affect the Europa League table. Celtic climbed to 17th place and returned to the secure knockout positions.
| Pos | Club | P | GD | 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 win and moved level on points with leaders Midtjylland at the peak of the competition table. The English side struggled of that during the closing minutes.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys gave themselves a lifeline through Monteiro but had just four more minutes to score the leveler!
Celtic Secure Victory
A famous and valuable win for the Scottish team. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from the Korean forward, the Japanese midfielder and Nygren.
Game Developments
Aston Villa, concurrently, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at Villa Park.
Malen's second goal there triggered intense reactions in the visitors' section, with Swiss fans confronting police. Scuffles broke out and projectiles hurled at both the authorities and at the playing surface, with the goalscorer being caught on the head by a drinking vessel.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Forest: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, The striker.
The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: Osmers (Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, The midfielder, Martinez, Navarro, Horta.
Referee: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Historical Context
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and historical connections. The both teams have a special connection, also meeting in Forest's most recent continental tour in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the premier competition final decades past that entwines these two together, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis netting the decisive goal of a pretty miserable final to clinch eternal glory for the Forest supporters.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, modestly dressed amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the revelry," wrote the match reporter. This represented an remarkable feat that it is unlikely to be replicated – from second tier to European football in three seasons."
One should note to pause a little on Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Swedish club to reach the final under British coach Houghton.
Tonight's game is a very different to that summit, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are full of confidence after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The general expectation is on the Forest tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been lost to a Braga this season. Rangers are last place of the competition table at the half-way stage of the initial phase with no points whatsoever. They badly want a victory if they are to have any hope of making a recovery for a qualification place.
Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the current standings from the concluded fixtures, including Villa vs Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
