Forest vs Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- GOAL!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Starting XI: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Team news: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Opening notes
Latest Standings
These early results have significant impact on the competition standings. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and returned to the safety of qualification spots.
| Position | Club | Played | Goal 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
Aston Villa secured for the three points and moved level on points with leaders Midtjylland at the summit of the group rankings. Villa had difficulty of that during the closing minutes.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys earned a lifeline through Monteiro but only have stoppage time to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A famous and valuable win for the Glasgow side. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Reo Hatate and the Swedish striker.
Latest Action
The Birmingham side, concurrently, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.
The Dutch forward's brace there sparked furious scenes in the away end, with visiting fans clashing with police. Scuffles broke out and items launched at both the police and onto the pitch, with the goalscorer being caught on the head by a drinking vessel.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Nottingham Forest: The goalkeeper, The defender, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, The attacker, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Referee: The German referee (Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, The defender, Aarons, The midfielder, Diomande, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.
Official: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Preamble
The European clash and memories of 1979. The both teams have a special connection, also competing in Forest's last European campaign in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the premier competition final decades past that links these clubs, with the groundbreaking transfer Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory for the the English club.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, unassuming and low-key amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the revelry," noted the journalist. Their achievement was an extraordinary accomplishment that it is unlikely to be replicated – from the lower league to continental competition in a short period."
It's also interesting to consider Malmö, who became the initial and final Scandinavian side to advance to the ultimate game under English manager Bob Houghton.
The current fixture is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are absolutely buzzing after thrashing Liverpool at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since early November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The smart money is on the Forest tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this clockwatch. Rangers have already been lost to a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the half-way stage of the group stage with no points whatsoever. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a comeback for a playoff spot.
Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the latest scores from the previous games, including Villa vs Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.
