Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – UEFA Europa League News
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Full-time: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Starting XI: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Lineups revealed: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Introduction
Latest Standings
The opening scores greatly affect the Europa League table. The Glasgow side rose to the 17th spot and regained position in the secure qualification spots.
| Rank | Side | Matches | GD | 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 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the three points and went equal on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the peak of the competition table. The Birmingham club made hard work of that at the end.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys gave themselves a hope through Monteiro but were left with additional time to find an equaliser!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A significant and important win for the Glasgow side. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Match Updates
Villa, at the same time, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at their home ground.
The Dutch forward's brace there caused dramatic events in the visitors' section, with Swiss fans engaging with police. Physical altercations occurred and projectiles hurled at both the authorities and at the playing surface, with the goalscorer being caught on the head by a drinking vessel.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, The midfielder, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Match official: The German referee (German)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Light Blues: Butland, Tavernier, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, The midfielder, The midfielder, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Horta.
Match official: Lindhout (Netherlands)
Match Background
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and historical connections. The two clubs have a special connection, also meeting in Forest's previous European adventure in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the premier competition final 46 years ago that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer Trevor Francis netting the decisive goal of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory for the red half of Nottingham.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, unassuming and low-key amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the revelry," commented the writer. Theirs has been an outstanding achievement that it is unlikely to be replicated – from Second Division to European football in three seasons."
It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the initial and final Swedish club to make the championship match under English manager Bob Houghton.
The current fixture is a very different to that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. 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 popular prediction is on the home team tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been lost to a Braga this season. Rangers are at the foot of the league rankings at the middle of the initial phase with precisely zero points. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a late surge for a knockout position.
Updates will continue with all the late games and provide the most recent results from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
