Forest vs Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – Europa League Coverage
Live Updates
Key Events
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Goal scored!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Starting XI: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Team news: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Opening notes
Current Table
The opening scores have significant impact on the competition standings. The Glasgow side rose to 17th position and regained position in the secure playoff places.
| Pos | Team | P | 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
Aston Villa secured for the win and went equal on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the group rankings. The Birmingham club made hard work of that at the end.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys gave themselves a lifeline through Monteiro but were left with additional time to get the tying goal!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A significant and important win for the Scottish team. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from the Korean forward, the Japanese midfielder and Benjamin Nygren.
Match Updates
The Birmingham side, concurrently, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at the stadium.
Malen's second goal there triggered intense reactions in the opposition stands, with Young Boys supporters clashing with police. Scuffles broke out and objects thrown at both the authorities and onto the pitch, with Malen himself being hit on the head by a drinking vessel.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, The striker.
Malmö FF: The goalkeeper, Stryger Larsen, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Official: The German referee (Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, The defender, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, The midfielder, The attacker, The forward, The striker.
The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, The midfielder, The experienced midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, Navarro, Horta.
Official: Allard Lindhout (Holland)
Historical Context
Forest vs Malmö and past encounters. The both teams have a unique relationship, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the European Cup final decades past that entwines these two together, with the groundbreaking transfer Francis netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to secure historic victory for the Forest supporters.
"The legendary management duo, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the celebrations," commented the writer. This represented 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 pause a little on Malmö, who became the initial and final Scandinavian side to advance to the ultimate game under British coach Houghton.
This match is a very different to 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 Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The smart money is on the Forest tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been beaten by a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are last place of the competition table at the middle of the group stage with exactly zero. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a playoff spot.
Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the most recent results from the earlier matches, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
