Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Braga vs Rangers, and More – Europa League News
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Full-time: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- GOAL!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Game over: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Starting XI: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Team news: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Introduction
League Position
These early results have significant impact on the competition standings. Celtic have moved up to 17th place and returned to the secure playoff places.
| Position | Team | Matches | 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 |
Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the victory and went equal on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the top of the league phase standings. The English side had difficulty of that during the closing minutes.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys gave themselves a lifeline through Monteiro but were left with additional time to find an equaliser!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A famous and valuable win for the Glasgow side. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang, the Japanese midfielder and Benjamin Nygren.
Game Developments
Villa, 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. Physical altercations occurred and objects thrown at both the police and at the playing surface, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a plastic cup.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Nottingham Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, The center-back, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, The midfielder, McAtee, The winger, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: Ellborg, The defender, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Match official: The German referee (German)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Light Blues: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, The center-back, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Referee: Allard Lindhout (Holland)
Preamble
The European clash and historical connections. The these sides have a historical link, also meeting in Forest's most recent continental tour in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the continental championship from 1979 that entwines these two together, with Britain's first £1m player Francis scoring the winner of a rather dull championship game to secure historic victory for the Forest supporters.
"Forest's famous bosses, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the celebrations," noted the journalist. This represented an outstanding achievement that it is unlikely to be replicated – from the lower league to European stage in just three years."
One should note to pause a little on Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last 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 earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are riding high after thrashing Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially 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 live coverage. Rangers have already been beaten by a European rival this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the initial phase with exactly zero. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a late surge for a qualification place.
Updates will continue with all the late games and provide the most recent results from the earlier matches, including the Birmingham match and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
