Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – UEFA Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Final whistle: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Score!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Game over: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Team news: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Lineups revealed: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Preamble
Latest Standings
The opening scores strongly influence the league rankings. Celtic climbed to 17th position and are back in the protected playoff places.
| Rank | Team | P | GD | 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
The English side clung on for the win and went equal on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the summit of the group rankings. Villa struggled of that at the end.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys gave themselves a chance through Monteiro but only have additional time to score the leveler!
Celtic Secure Victory
A significant and important win for the Scottish team. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Reo Hatate and Nygren.
Latest Action
Villa, meanwhile, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at Villa Park.
Malen's double there triggered intense reactions in the away end, with visiting fans engaging with police. Scuffles broke out and items launched at both the police and onto the pitch, with Malen himself being hit on the head by a drinking vessel.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Forest: The goalkeeper, The defender, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, The midfielder, The defensive midfielder, The midfielder, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
Malmö: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, The forward, The striker.
Referee: Harm Osmers (Germany)
Starting Players
Rangers: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, The midfielder, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, The defender, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, The striker.
Official: The Dutch referee (Netherlands)
Preamble
The European clash and historical connections. The these sides have a unique relationship, also meeting in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship from 1979 that links these clubs, with the groundbreaking transfer Trevor Francis heading the only goal of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the Forest supporters.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the celebrations," commented the writer. Theirs has been an extraordinary accomplishment that it is hard to see being repeated – from the lower league to continental competition in three seasons."
It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Swedish club to make the championship match under British coach Houghton.
This match is a far cry from that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are full of confidence after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since early November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The smart money is on the home team tonight.
Additional games on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been defeated by a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are at the foot of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the group stage with precisely zero points. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a playoff spot.
Updates will continue with all the late games and provide the current standings from the concluded fixtures, including Villa vs Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
