Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers vs Braga, and Additional – Europa League News
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Final whistle: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Goal scored!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Game over: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Team news: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Starting players: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Preamble
League Position
The initial outcomes have significant impact on the league rankings. Celtic have moved up to 17th position and are back in the protected knockout positions.
| Position | Side | Matches | GD | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
Villa managed to hold on for the win and became tied on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the group rankings. The Birmingham club made hard work of that at the end.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
The Swiss side created a chance through Monteiro but had just four more minutes to score the leveler!
Celtic Secure Victory
A famous and valuable win for the Celtic. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang, the Japanese midfielder and the Swedish striker.
Match Updates
The Birmingham side, at the same time, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at Villa Park.
Malen's double there sparked furious scenes in the visitors' section, with visiting fans engaging with police. Scuffles broke out and projectiles hurled at both the police and onto the pitch, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a drinking vessel.
Starting XI Revealed
Nottingham Forest: The goalkeeper, The defender, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, The midfielder, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
The Swedish side: Ellborg, Larsen, The center-back, Duric, The full-back, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Match official: Harm Osmers (from Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Light Blues: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, The defender, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: The goalkeeper, Gomez, The center-back, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, Navarro, Horta.
Match official: The Dutch referee (from Netherlands)
Match Background
The European clash and historical connections. The two clubs have a special connection, also competing in Forest's last European campaign in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the European Cup final 46 years ago that connects these teams, with the record-breaking signing the English forward heading the only goal of a pretty miserable final to clinch eternal glory for the red half of Nottingham.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, modestly dressed amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the celebrations," commented the writer. Theirs has been an extraordinary accomplishment that it is hard to see being repeated – from Second Division to European stage in just three years."
Worth mentioning to pause a little on Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Swedish club to reach the final under manager Houghton.
Tonight's game is a very different to that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are absolutely buzzing after beating Liverpool 3-0 at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The general expectation is on the English side tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been beaten by a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the league rankings at the half-way stage of the initial phase with precisely zero points. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any hope of making a recovery for a knockout position.
Updates will continue with all the late games and provide the latest scores from the concluded fixtures, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.
