Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Full-time: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Full-time: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Lineups announced: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Team news: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Opening notes
League Position
The initial outcomes greatly affect the competition standings. Celtic have moved up to 17th place and returned to the secure knockout positions.
| Rank | Team | Matches | Goal 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 |
Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Villa managed to hold on for the three points and went equal on points with leaders Midtjylland at the top of the group rankings. Villa made hard work of that in the final stages.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys gave themselves a chance through Monteiro but had just additional time to find an equaliser!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A famous and valuable win for the Scottish team. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and Nygren.
Match Updates
Villa, concurrently, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at Villa Park.
Malen's double there triggered intense reactions in the visitors' section, with Young Boys supporters engaging with police. Scuffles broke out and projectiles hurled at both the police and toward the field, with Malen himself being hit on the head by a drinking vessel.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Nottingham Forest: The goalkeeper, The defender, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, The midfielder, Sangare, The midfielder, The attacker, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, Larsen, The center-back, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, The midfielder, Bolin, The forward, The striker.
Official: Harm Osmers (Germany)
Starting Players
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, The midfielder, The midfielder, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, The defender, The center-back, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, Horta.
Match official: The Dutch referee (Holland)
Historical Context
Forest vs Malmö and memories of 1979. The these sides have a unique relationship, also meeting in Forest's last European campaign in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the European Cup final decades past that entwines these two together, with the record-breaking signing the English forward netting the decisive goal of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the red half of Nottingham.
"Forest's famous bosses, modestly dressed amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the celebrations," noted the journalist. This represented an remarkable feat that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to European stage in three seasons."
One should note to consider Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Scandinavian side to reach the final under manager Houghton.
This match is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are riding high after defeating Liverpool convincingly at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since 9 November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The general expectation is on the Forest tonight.
Additional games on offer in this clockwatch. The Scottish side have already been lost to a Braga this season. Rangers are at the foot of the competition table at the midpoint of the initial phase with exactly zero. They desperately need 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 nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the current standings from the earlier matches, including Villa vs Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.
