Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers vs Braga, and More – UEFA Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Team news: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Team news: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Introduction
League Position
The opening scores greatly affect the competition standings. Celtic have moved up to 17th place and returned to the secure knockout positions.
| Rank | Side | Played | 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 |
Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the three points and moved level on points with leaders Midtjylland at the top of the league phase standings. The English side 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 had just stoppage time to find an equaliser!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A famous and valuable win for the Celtic. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang, the Japanese midfielder and Benjamin Nygren.
Game Developments
Aston Villa, at the same time, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at the stadium.
Malen's double there caused dramatic events in the away end, with Swiss fans engaging with police. Scuffles broke out and items launched at both the officers and at the playing surface, with the player being caught on the head by a throwable object.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Forest: John Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, The defender, The center-back, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, The midfielder, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: The German referee (from Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Glasgow side: Butland, The defender, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, The full-back, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Ricardo Horta.
Referee: The Dutch referee (from Netherlands)
Preamble
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and past encounters. The these sides have a historical link, also meeting in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship decades past that connects these teams, with the record-breaking signing Trevor Francis netting the decisive goal of a largely forgettable match to secure historic victory for the the English club.
"The legendary management duo, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the celebrations," noted the journalist. Theirs has been an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from the lower league to continental competition in just three years."
One should note to consider Malmö, who became the initial and final Swedish club to advance to the ultimate game under manager Houghton.
Tonight's game is a far cry from that summit, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. 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 early November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The general expectation is on the Forest tonight.
Additional games on offer in this live coverage. The Glasgow club have already been beaten by a European rival this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the competition table at the middle of the initial phase with exactly zero. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a comeback for a knockout position.
Updates will continue with all the late games and provide the latest scores from the earlier matches, including the Birmingham match and Feyenoord v Celtic.
