Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – Europa League Coverage
Live Updates
Major Moments
- Full-time: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- GOAL!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Game over: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Team news: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Preamble
League Position
The initial outcomes greatly affect the league rankings. Celtic climbed to 17th position and regained position in the secure knockout positions.
| Pos | Team | Played | 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 |
Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the win and went equal on points with leaders Midtjylland at the peak of the league phase standings. The English side made hard work of that at the end.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
The Swiss side created a chance through Monteiro but were left with stoppage time to find an equaliser!
Celtic Secure Victory
A famous and valuable win for the Celtic. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang, Reo Hatate and Nygren.
Match Updates
Aston Villa, concurrently, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at Villa Park.
The Dutch forward's brace there caused dramatic events in the opposition stands, with visiting fans engaging with police. Punches were thrown and projectiles hurled at both the police and at the playing surface, with the player being hit on the head by a plastic cup.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
The Reds: John Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, The defender, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Referee: Osmers (from Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
Rangers: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, The midfielder, Diomande, The midfielder, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, The defender, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, The attacker, The forward, The striker.
Match official: Allard Lindhout (Holland)
Historical Context
The European clash and past encounters. The two clubs have a unique relationship, also meeting in Forest's last European campaign in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the European Cup final decades past that links these clubs, with the groundbreaking transfer Francis netting the decisive goal of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the the English club.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, modestly dressed amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the celebrations," wrote the match reporter. Theirs has been an outstanding achievement that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from the lower league to European football in just three years."
One should note 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 peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are riding high after thrashing Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since last month following the completion of Allsvenskan. The popular prediction is on the English side tonight.
Additional games on offer in this match tracking. The Glasgow club have already been defeated by a Braga this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the middle of the league phase with exactly zero. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a playoff spot.
Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the latest scores from the previous games, including Villa vs Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
