Forest vs Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – Europa League News
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Full-time: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Lineups revealed: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Opening notes
League Position
The initial outcomes strongly influence the competition standings. The Glasgow side rose to the 17th spot and returned to the secure playoff places.
| Rank | Side | Played | Goal Difference | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
Villa managed to hold on for the victory and went equal on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the group rankings. The English side made hard work of that during the closing minutes.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys gave themselves a lifeline through Monteiro but only have stoppage time to find an equaliser!
Celtic Secure Victory
A significant and important win for the Glasgow side. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Latest Action
Aston Villa, concurrently, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at the stadium.
The Dutch forward's brace there triggered intense reactions in the away end, with visiting fans clashing with police. Physical altercations occurred and items launched at both the police and at the playing surface, with the goalscorer being caught on the head by a plastic cup.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, The striker.
The Swedish side: Ellborg, Larsen, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, The forward, The striker.
Match official: The German referee (from Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Ricardo Horta.
Match official: Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Historical Context
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and past encounters. The two clubs have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's last European campaign in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the premier competition final 46 years ago that entwines these two together, with the record-breaking signing the English forward scoring the winner of a rather dull championship game to claim legendary status for the the English club.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, unassuming and low-key amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the celebrations," commented the writer. This represented an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to continental competition in three seasons."
Worth mentioning to pause a little on Malmö, who became the initial and final Swedish club to make the championship match under English manager Bob Houghton.
This match is a distant from that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are absolutely buzzing after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The popular prediction is on the Forest tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this live coverage. Rangers have already been defeated by a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are last place of the league rankings at the half-way stage of the league phase with exactly zero. They badly want 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 the evening matches and provide the latest scores from the earlier matches, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
