Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers vs Braga, and More – UEFA Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Full-time: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Match concluded: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Lineups announced: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Starting players: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Introduction
League Position
These early results greatly affect the competition standings. Celtic have moved up to 17th place and regained position in the protected playoff places.
| Position | Side | Played | Difference | 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 victory and became tied on points with leaders Midtjylland at the top of the group rankings. Villa had difficulty of that during the closing minutes.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys gave themselves a lifeline through Monteiro but only have additional time to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A memorable and crucial win for the Glasgow side. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Match Updates
The Birmingham side, concurrently, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at Villa Park.
Malen's double there sparked furious scenes in the visitors' section, with Swiss fans clashing with police. Physical altercations occurred and objects thrown at both the officers and onto the pitch, with the player being struck in the head by a plastic cup.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Nottingham Forest: John Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, The attacker, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, Larsen, The center-back, The defender, Rosler, The midfielder, The midfielder, The midfielder, Bolin, The forward, The striker.
Match official: The German referee (Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Glasgow side: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, The midfielder, The midfielder, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Arsenalistas: The goalkeeper, Gomez, The center-back, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, The midfielder, The attacker, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Match official: Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Preamble
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and past encounters. The these sides have a special connection, also competing in Forest's last European campaign in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the European Cup final decades past that links these clubs, with the groundbreaking transfer Francis netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to claim legendary status for the red half of Nottingham.
"Forest's famous bosses, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the celebrations," noted the journalist. Their achievement was an extraordinary accomplishment that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from the lower league to European football in just three years."
One should note to consider Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Scandinavian side to make the championship match under English manager Bob Houghton.
The current fixture is a far cry from that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are absolutely buzzing after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the end of the Swedish league season. The smart money is on the home team tonight.
Additional games on offer in this match tracking. The Glasgow club have already been lost to a Braga this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the half-way stage of the league phase with exactly zero. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery 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 Villa vs Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.
