Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – UEFA Europa League Coverage
Live Updates
Important Updates
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Full-time: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Team news: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Preamble
Current Table
These early results strongly influence the competition standings. Celtic have moved up to the 17th spot and returned to the protected qualification spots.
| Position | Club | P | Difference | 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
Aston Villa secured for the three points and moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the competition table. The English side struggled of that during the closing minutes.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys gave themselves a lifeline through Monteiro but only have stoppage time to get the tying goal!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A famous and valuable win for the Scottish team. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Game Developments
Villa, at the same time, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at their home ground.
The Dutch forward's brace there triggered intense reactions in the away end, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Physical altercations occurred and items launched at both the police and toward the field, with the player being struck in the head by a throwable object.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Nottingham Forest: Victor, The defender, The center-back, The defender, Morato, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, The forward, Busanello.
Referee: Harm Osmers (from Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
Rangers: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, The midfielder, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, Gomez, The center-back, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, The striker.
Match official: Allard Lindhout (Holland)
Match Background
Forest vs Malmö and past encounters. The both teams have a special connection, also competing in Forest's last European campaign in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the European Cup final decades past that links these clubs, with Britain's first £1m player 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 serenely viewing the celebrations," commented the writer. Their achievement was an remarkable feat that it is hard to see being repeated – from Second Division to European football in three seasons."
It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Nordic team to reach the final under British coach Houghton.
Tonight's game is a very different to that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are absolutely buzzing after thrashing Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since early November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The popular prediction is on the home team tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this match tracking. The Scottish side have already been beaten by a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the initial phase with exactly zero. They badly want a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a comeback for a qualification place.
Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the latest scores from the previous games, including Villa vs Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.
