Forest vs Malmö, Rangers vs Braga, and More – UEFA Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Game over: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Team news: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Preamble
Latest Standings
The opening scores strongly influence the competition standings. Celtic have moved up to 17th place and regained position in the secure qualification spots.
| Pos | Team | Played | GD | 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 win and went equal on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. Villa had difficulty of that in the final stages.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys earned a chance through Monteiro but only have additional time to find an equaliser!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A famous and valuable win for the Celtic. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Latest Action
Aston Villa, meanwhile, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's second goal there caused dramatic events in the visitors' section, with Young Boys supporters engaging with police. Punches were thrown and objects thrown at both the officers and onto the pitch, with the player being hit on the head by a plastic cup.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: The goalkeeper, The defender, Jansson, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, The midfielder, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: Osmers (from Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, The midfielder, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, The defender, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, The forward, Horta.
Official: Lindhout (Netherlands)
Historical Context
Forest vs Malmö and past encounters. The both teams have a unique relationship, also competing in Forest's last European campaign in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the European Cup final 46 years ago that links these clubs, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis heading the only 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 festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the mafficking," noted the journalist. This represented an remarkable feat that it is hard to see being repeated – from Second Division to continental competition in a short period."
Worth mentioning to reflect upon Malmö, who became the initial and final Swedish club to advance to the ultimate game under English manager Bob Houghton.
This match is a far cry from that peak, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are full of confidence after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since early November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The general expectation is on the English side tonight.
Additional games on offer in this match tracking. The Glasgow club have already been lost to 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 qualification place.
Updates will continue with all the late games and provide the current standings from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.
