Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – Europa League Updates
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Key Events
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Lineups announced: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Team news: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Introduction
Latest Standings
The opening scores strongly influence the Europa League table. Celtic climbed to 17th place and returned to the protected qualification spots.
| Rank | Club | P | Goal Difference | 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 victory and became tied on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the peak of the competition table. Villa made hard work of that in the final stages.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys earned a lifeline through Monteiro but only have stoppage time to find an equaliser!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A significant and important win for the Glasgow side. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and the Swedish striker.
Match Updates
Villa, at the same time, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's second goal there triggered intense reactions in the visitors' section, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Scuffles broke out and projectiles hurled at both the officers and onto the pitch, with the goalscorer being struck in the head by a drinking vessel.
Starting XI Revealed
Nottingham Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, Yates, The defensive midfielder, The midfielder, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
Malmö: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, The forward, Busanello.
Official: Harm Osmers (German)
Starting Players
The Light Blues: Butland, The defender, The center-back, Djiga, The full-back, Barron, The midfielder, The midfielder, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.
Braga: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Referee: The Dutch referee (from Netherlands)
Historical Context
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and historical connections. The these sides have a unique relationship, also meeting in Forest's previous European adventure in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the European Cup final decades past that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer the English forward netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to secure historic victory for the red half of Nottingham.
"The legendary management duo, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the celebrations," wrote the match reporter. 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 initial and final Scandinavian side to reach the final under English manager Bob Houghton.
Tonight's game is a distant from that peak, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are riding high after thrashing Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since early November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The popular prediction is on the Forest tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this live coverage. Rangers have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint 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 nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the current standings from the earlier matches, including the Birmingham match and Feyenoord v Celtic.
