Forest vs Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and More – UEFA Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Match concluded: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Team news: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Starting players: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Preamble
League Position
These early results strongly influence the league rankings. Celtic climbed to 17th position and regained position in the protected playoff places.
| Rank | Team | Played | 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 |
Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the win and became tied on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the peak of the group rankings. The Birmingham club had difficulty of that during the closing minutes.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys gave themselves a hope through Monteiro but only have four more minutes to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A famous and valuable win for the Celtic. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Reo Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Match Updates
The Birmingham side, meanwhile, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's second goal there triggered intense reactions in the away end, with Swiss fans clashing with police. Physical altercations occurred and projectiles hurled at both the police and onto the pitch, with the goalscorer being hit on the head by a drinking vessel.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Nottingham Forest: Victor, Abbott, The center-back, The defender, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, The midfielder, The attacker, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, The defender, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Match official: Harm Osmers (from Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
Rangers: Butland, The defender, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.
Braga: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, The midfielder, Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.
Referee: Allard Lindhout (Netherlands)
Match Background
The European clash and historical connections. The two clubs have a historical link, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the continental championship from 1979 that links these clubs, with the record-breaking signing the English forward netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to secure historic victory for the the English club.
"The legendary management duo, modestly dressed amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the mafficking," commented the writer. This represented an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from the lower league to European stage in just three years."
One should note to consider Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Swedish club to make the championship match under English manager Bob Houghton.
Tonight's game is a far cry from that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are riding high after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since early November following the end of the Swedish league season. The popular prediction is on the Forest tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this clockwatch. The Glasgow club have already been defeated by a Braga this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the competition table at the middle of the initial phase with precisely zero points. 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 the evening matches and provide the most recent results from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
