Forest vs Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Final whistle: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Match concluded: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Team news: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Team news: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Opening notes
Latest Standings
The opening scores strongly influence the Europa League table. Celtic climbed to 17th place and returned to the secure qualification spots.
| Position | Side | 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 moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the group rankings. Villa struggled of that in the final stages.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys gave themselves a chance through Monteiro but were left with additional time to score the leveler!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A significant and important win for the Glasgow side. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and the Swedish striker.
Match Updates
Villa, at the same time, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at the stadium.
Malen's double there caused dramatic events in the away end, with Young Boys supporters clashing with police. Scuffles broke out and objects thrown at both the police and at the playing surface, with the player being caught on the head by a plastic cup.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, Larsen, The center-back, Duric, The full-back, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, The forward, Busanello.
Official: Harm Osmers (German)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Glasgow side: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, The defender, The full-back, The midfielder, The midfielder, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, The striker.
The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, The full-back, The midfielder, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, The attacker, The forward, The striker.
Referee: Lindhout (Holland)
Historical Context
The European clash and memories of 1979. The both teams have a unique relationship, also facing each other in Forest's most recent continental tour in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the European Cup final 46 years ago that entwines these two together, with the record-breaking signing Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to clinch eternal glory for the red half of Nottingham.
"Forest's famous bosses, unassuming and low-key amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the revelry," wrote the match reporter. This represented an extraordinary accomplishment that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to continental competition in a short period."
It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Nordic team to advance to the ultimate game under British coach Houghton.
The current fixture is a very different to that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are riding high after defeating Liverpool convincingly at the famous ground 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 Forest tonight.
Additional games on offer in this clockwatch. The Scottish side have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the half-way stage of the initial phase with precisely zero points. They badly want 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 the late games and provide the current standings from the previous games, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
