Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and More – Europa League Coverage
Live Updates
Important Updates
- Match ended: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Game over: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Starting XI: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Lineups revealed: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Opening notes
League Position
The opening scores have significant impact on the competition standings. Celtic climbed to the 17th spot and returned to the protected knockout positions.
| Rank | Side | Matches | 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 three points and became tied on points with leaders Midtjylland at the peak of the league phase standings. The Birmingham club 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 only have four more minutes to get the tying goal!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A famous and valuable win for the Glasgow side. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang, the Japanese midfielder and Nygren.
Match Updates
Aston Villa, concurrently, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's double there sparked furious scenes in the away end, with Young Boys supporters engaging with police. Physical altercations occurred and projectiles hurled at both the authorities and at the playing surface, with the player being hit on the head by a drinking vessel.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: John Victor, The defender, The center-back, The defender, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, Dominguez, The attacker, The winger, The striker.
The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, Larsen, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, The midfielder, Bolin, The forward, Busanello.
Official: The German referee (Germany)
Starting Players
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, The defender, Aarons, The midfielder, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.
Official: Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Preamble
Forest vs Malmö and past encounters. The two clubs have a unique relationship, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the continental championship from 1979 that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer Francis scoring the winner of a largely forgettable match to claim legendary status for the Forest supporters.
"Forest's famous bosses, modestly dressed amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the revelry," noted the journalist. Their achievement was an extraordinary accomplishment that it is unlikely to be replicated – from second tier to continental competition in just three years."
It's also interesting to consider Malmö, who became the initial and final Nordic team to reach the final under English manager Bob Houghton.
The current fixture is a very different to that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are riding high after thrashing Liverpool at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The general expectation is on the home team tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this match tracking. The Glasgow club have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the middle of the league phase with precisely zero points. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a knockout position.
Coverage will persist with all the evening matches and provide the latest scores from the earlier matches, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
