Forest vs Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – UEFA Europa League Coverage
Live Updates
Important Updates
- Full-time: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- GOAL!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Match concluded: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Starting XI: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Starting players: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Introduction
Latest Standings
The initial outcomes strongly influence the competition standings. The Glasgow side rose to the 17th spot and returned to the safety of playoff places.
| Pos | Side | P | Difference | 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
Villa managed to hold on for the victory and moved level on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the summit of the group rankings. The Birmingham club had difficulty of that in the final stages.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys gave themselves a lifeline through Monteiro but were left with stoppage time to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A significant and important win for the Celtic. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Match Updates
The Birmingham side, at the same time, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at the stadium.
Malen's second goal there caused dramatic events in the away end, with Young Boys supporters clashing 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.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Nottingham Forest: Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, Dominguez, The attacker, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: The goalkeeper, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, The full-back, The midfielder, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Referee: The German referee (Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Light Blues: Butland, The defender, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, The midfielder, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Ricardo Horta.
Referee: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Historical Context
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and past encounters. The these sides have a unique relationship, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the continental championship 46 years ago that connects these teams, with Britain's first £1m player the English forward scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the Forest supporters.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the revelry," noted the journalist. Their achievement was an outstanding achievement that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from the lower league to European stage in a short period."
It's also interesting to consider Malmö, who became the initial and final Swedish club to reach the final under manager Houghton.
The current fixture is a distant from that peak, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are full of confidence after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since early November following the end of the Swedish league season. The smart money is on the home team tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this clockwatch. The Glasgow club have already been beaten by a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the league rankings at the half-way stage of the group stage with exactly zero. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a late surge for a playoff spot.
Coverage will persist with all the late games and provide the latest scores from the earlier matches, including Villa vs Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
