Forest vs Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and More – Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- GOAL!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Match concluded: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Starting players: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Introduction
Current Table
The opening scores have significant impact on the league rankings. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and are back in the safety of knockout positions.
| Rank | Side | P | 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 three points and moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the group rankings. The Birmingham club struggled of that during the closing minutes.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
The Swiss side created 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. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from the Korean forward, the Japanese midfielder and Benjamin Nygren.
Game Developments
Villa, at the same time, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at Villa Park.
Malen's double there caused dramatic events in the away end, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Punches were thrown and items launched at both the officers and onto the pitch, with the player being hit on the head by a plastic cup.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: John Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, The midfielder, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, The striker.
The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, The defender, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Official: The German referee (from Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, The midfielder, Gassama, The forward, The striker.
The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, The defender, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Official: Lindhout (Netherlands)
Match Background
The European clash and memories of 1979. The both teams have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's most recent continental tour in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the European Cup final decades past that connects these teams, with Britain's first £1m player Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the the English club.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the celebrations," noted the journalist. Theirs has been an outstanding achievement that it is unlikely to be replicated – from Second Division to continental competition in just three years."
Worth mentioning to reflect upon Malmö, who became the initial and final Scandinavian side to advance to the ultimate game under manager Houghton.
Tonight's game is a distant from that peak, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are full of confidence after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The smart money is on the home team tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been beaten by a Braga this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the league rankings at the midpoint of the initial phase with exactly zero. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any hope of making a recovery for a playoff spot.
We'll keep you up to date with all the late games and provide the most recent results from the previous games, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
