Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – UEFA Europa League News
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- GOAL!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Full-time: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Team news: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Introduction
Latest Standings
The initial outcomes greatly affect the competition standings. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and are back in the protected playoff places.
| Pos | Club | Played | 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 |
Full-time: Aston 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 Birmingham club had difficulty of that during the closing minutes.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
The Swiss side created a lifeline through Monteiro but were left with additional time to get the tying goal!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A significant and important win for the Celtic. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, Hatate and the Swedish striker.
Match Updates
The Birmingham side, at the same time, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at the stadium.
The Dutch forward's brace there triggered intense reactions in the away end, with visiting fans engaging with police. Physical altercations occurred and objects thrown at both the authorities and at the playing surface, with Malen himself being hit on the head by a plastic cup.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Forest: Victor, The defender, The center-back, Murillo, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, Dominguez, The attacker, The winger, The striker.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, The midfielder, The attacker, The forward, The striker.
Referee: The German referee (German)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Light Blues: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Arsenalistas: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.
Official: Lindhout (Netherlands)
Historical Context
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and past encounters. The two clubs have a special connection, also competing in Forest's last European campaign in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the European Cup final from 1979 that entwines these two together, with the record-breaking signing the English forward scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to clinch eternal glory for the the English club.
"Forest's famous bosses, unassuming and low-key amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the mafficking," commented the writer. This represented an extraordinary accomplishment that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from the lower league to continental competition in a short period."
One should note to pause a little on Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Scandinavian side to advance to the ultimate game under manager Houghton.
The current fixture is a distant from that summit, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are absolutely buzzing after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since early November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The popular prediction is on the English side tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this clockwatch. Rangers have already been lost to a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the league rankings at the middle of the league phase with no points whatsoever. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a late surge for a qualification place.
Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the latest scores from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
