Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers vs Braga, and More – Europa League News
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Match ended: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Score!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Starting XI: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Team news: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Introduction
League Position
The initial outcomes greatly affect the competition standings. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and are back in the protected knockout positions.
| Rank | Team | Matches | Goal 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 |
Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the win and moved level on points with leaders Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. The English side made hard work of that during the closing minutes.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys earned a chance through Monteiro but were left with stoppage time to find an equaliser!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A significant and important win for the Celtic. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and the Swedish striker.
Match Updates
Villa, meanwhile, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at Villa Park.
Malen's double there caused dramatic events in the opposition stands, with visiting fans clashing with police. Scuffles broke out and items launched at both the police and at the playing surface, with the goalscorer being hit on the head by a throwable object.
Starting XI Revealed
Nottingham Forest: Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
The Swedish side: Ellborg, The defender, Jansson, Duric, The full-back, The midfielder, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Official: Harm Osmers (German)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
Rangers: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, The defender, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, The midfielder, The attacker, The forward, The striker.
Match official: Allard Lindhout (Holland)
Preamble
The European clash and past encounters. The these sides have a unique relationship, also competing in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the premier competition final decades past that connects these teams, with the record-breaking signing Francis heading the only goal of a pretty miserable final to clinch eternal glory for the the English club.
"Forest's famous bosses, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the celebrations," noted the journalist. Theirs has been an remarkable feat that it is hard to see being repeated – from Second Division to European stage in just three years."
It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Scandinavian side to advance to the ultimate game under manager Houghton.
The current fixture is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are absolutely buzzing after beating Liverpool 3-0 at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since early November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The smart money is on the Forest tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this match tracking. The Glasgow club have already been lost to a Braga this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the group stage with precisely zero points. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a comeback for a qualification place.
Coverage will persist with all the late games and provide the current standings from the earlier matches, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
