Forest vs Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – UEFA Europa League News
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Full-time: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Goal scored!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Game over: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Lineups announced: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Starting players: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Preamble
Latest Standings
These early results greatly affect the Europa League table. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and are back in the secure playoff places.
| Rank | Side | Matches | 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 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
The English side clung on for the win and moved level on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. The English side made hard work of that in the final stages.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
The Swiss side created a chance through Monteiro but only have four more minutes to get the tying goal!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A famous and valuable win for the Celtic. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Reo Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Latest Action
Aston Villa, meanwhile, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's second goal there caused dramatic events in the opposition stands, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Physical altercations occurred and projectiles hurled at both the authorities and onto the pitch, with the goalscorer being hit on the head by a plastic cup.
Starting XI Revealed
The Reds: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, The midfielder, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, The striker.
Malmö: Ellborg, Larsen, The center-back, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: Harm Osmers (German)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Glasgow side: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, The midfielder, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, The striker.
Referee: Lindhout (Holland)
Match Background
The European clash and historical connections. The these sides have a special connection, also competing in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the premier competition final from 1979 that links these clubs, with Britain's first £1m player Francis heading the only goal of a pretty miserable final to clinch eternal glory for the the English club.
"The legendary management duo, unassuming and low-key amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the mafficking," noted the journalist. Theirs has been an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from Second Division to continental competition in three seasons."
One should note to consider Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Swedish club to advance to the ultimate game under British coach Houghton.
Tonight's game is a distant from that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are riding high after defeating Liverpool convincingly at the famous ground 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.
Additional games on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been defeated by a Braga this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the half-way stage of the group stage with precisely zero points. They badly want a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a playoff spot.
We'll keep you up to date with all the late games and provide the latest scores from the concluded fixtures, including the Birmingham match and Feyenoord v Celtic.