Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Final whistle: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Full-time: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Team news: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Starting players: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Preamble
Latest Standings
The opening scores strongly influence the league rankings. The Glasgow side rose to the 17th spot and are back in the secure qualification spots.
| 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
Villa managed to hold on for the win and became tied on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the peak of the group rankings. The Birmingham club made hard work of that at the end.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys gave themselves a lifeline through Monteiro but were left with additional time to get the tying goal!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A memorable and crucial win for the Glasgow side. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Reo Hatate and Nygren.
Match Updates
The Birmingham side, concurrently, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at the stadium.
Malen's second goal there triggered intense reactions in the opposition stands, with visiting fans clashing with police. Scuffles broke out and projectiles hurled at both the police and toward the field, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a throwable object.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
The Reds: John Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, Yates, Sangare, The midfielder, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: Harm Osmers (from Germany)
Starting Players
The Light Blues: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, The defender, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, The forward, The striker.
Match official: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Preamble
Forest vs Malmö and historical connections. The both teams have a unique relationship, also facing each other in Forest's last European campaign in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the premier competition final decades past that entwines these two together, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis heading the only goal of a pretty miserable final to clinch eternal glory for the the English club.
"Forest's famous bosses, modestly dressed amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the mafficking," noted the journalist. Theirs has been an remarkable feat that it is unlikely to be replicated – from second tier to European football in a short period."
Worth mentioning to pause a little on Malmö, who became the initial and final Scandinavian side to reach the final under English manager Bob Houghton.
This match is a distant from that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are full of confidence after thrashing Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The general expectation is on the English side tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been defeated by a Braga this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the league phase with exactly zero. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a playoff spot.
We'll keep you up to date with all the evening matches and provide the most recent results from the concluded fixtures, including Villa vs Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
