Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and More – Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Score!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Game over: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Starting XI: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Team news: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Preamble
League Position
The initial outcomes strongly influence the competition standings. Celtic climbed to 17th place and returned to the protected qualification spots.
| Position | Club | Played | Goal 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
The English side clung on for the victory and moved level on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. Villa made hard work of that in the final stages.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys gave themselves a chance through Monteiro but had just stoppage time to find an equaliser!
Celtic Secure Victory
A significant and important win for the Glasgow side. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, the Japanese midfielder and Benjamin Nygren.
Latest Action
The Birmingham side, at the same time, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at the stadium.
The Dutch forward's brace there sparked furious scenes in the opposition stands, with Young Boys supporters engaging with police. Punches were thrown and projectiles hurled at both the authorities and toward the field, with the goalscorer being hit on the head by a throwable object.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Forest: Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, Yates, The defensive midfielder, The midfielder, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
Malmö: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, The center-back, Duric, The full-back, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Official: The German referee (from Germany)
Starting Players
The Glasgow side: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, The midfielder, Diomande, The midfielder, The attacker, The forward, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, The defender, Lagerbielke, The defender, The full-back, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Official: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Match Background
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and historical connections. The two clubs have a historical link, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the European Cup final from 1979 that connects these teams, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis netting the decisive goal of a largely forgettable match to claim legendary status for the the English club.
"Forest's famous bosses, modestly dressed amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the revelry," commented the writer. This represented an remarkable feat that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from second tier to continental competition in three seasons."
Worth mentioning to reflect upon Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Swedish club to advance to the ultimate game under British coach Houghton.
The current fixture is a distant from that summit, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are full of confidence after defeating Liverpool convincingly at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since early November following the end of the Swedish league season. The general expectation is on the home team tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this live coverage. Rangers have already been lost to a European rival this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the league rankings at the half-way stage of the league phase with exactly zero. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a playoff spot.
We'll keep you up to date with all the evening matches and provide the latest scores from the previous games, including Villa vs Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
