Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and More – UEFA Europa League News
Live Updates
Major Moments
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Goal scored!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Game over: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Team news: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Team news: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Introduction
Latest Standings
The opening scores greatly affect the Europa League table. Celtic climbed to 17th place and regained position in the safety of knockout positions.
| Pos | Team | Played | GD | 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 |
Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the win and moved level on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the top of the league phase standings. The English side had difficulty of that in the final stages.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
The Swiss side created a hope through Monteiro but were left with four more minutes to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A memorable and crucial win for the Scottish team. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang, the Japanese midfielder and Nygren.
Latest Action
Villa, meanwhile, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's double there triggered intense reactions in the opposition stands, with visiting fans clashing with police. Physical altercations occurred and projectiles hurled at both the authorities and onto the pitch, with the player being caught on the head by a drinking vessel.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Nottingham Forest: Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, The midfielder, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, The forward, Busanello.
Match official: Osmers (from Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Light Blues: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, The striker.
Braga: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, Horta.
Official: Allard Lindhout (Holland)
Historical Context
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and memories of 1979. The these sides have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's last European campaign in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the premier competition final 46 years ago that links these clubs, with Britain's first £1m player Francis scoring the winner of a largely forgettable match to secure historic victory for the red half of Nottingham.
"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," wrote the match reporter. This represented an extraordinary accomplishment that it is hard to see being repeated – from the lower league to European football in three seasons."
It's also interesting to pause a little on Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Swedish club to make the championship match under English manager Bob Houghton.
The current fixture is a very different to that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are absolutely buzzing after thrashing Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the end of the Swedish league season. The general expectation is on the English side tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this clockwatch. The Glasgow club have already been beaten by a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the competition table at the half-way stage of the initial phase with no points whatsoever. They badly want a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a comeback for a knockout position.
We'll keep you up to date with all the evening matches and provide the current standings from the earlier matches, including the Birmingham match and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
