Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – UEFA Europa League News
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- GOAL!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Game over: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Lineups announced: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Starting players: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Opening notes
Current Table
The opening scores greatly affect the league rankings. Celtic climbed to the 17th spot and regained position in the secure qualification spots.
| Rank | Team | 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
Aston Villa secured for the three points and became tied on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the peak of the competition table. The Birmingham club had difficulty of that in the final stages.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
The Swiss side created a lifeline through Monteiro but had just four more minutes to find an equaliser!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A memorable and crucial win for the Celtic. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from the Korean forward, the Japanese midfielder and the Swedish striker.
Game Developments
Villa, concurrently, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at their home ground.
Malen's double there caused dramatic events in the away end, with Swiss fans clashing with police. Scuffles broke out and objects thrown at both the police and at the playing surface, with the goalscorer being struck in the head by a throwable object.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
Malmö: The goalkeeper, Stryger Larsen, The center-back, Duric, The full-back, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Referee: The German referee (German)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
Rangers: Butland, The defender, Fernandez, The defender, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, Zalazar, Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, Navarro, Horta.
Match official: The Dutch referee (from Netherlands)
Historical Context
The European clash and past encounters. The two clubs have a special connection, also competing in Forest's last European campaign in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship 46 years ago that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a rather dull championship game to claim legendary status for the Forest supporters.
"Forest's famous bosses, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the revelry," wrote the match reporter. This represented an remarkable feat that it is hard to see being repeated – from the lower league to European football in three seasons."
It's also interesting to pause a little on Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Scandinavian side to make the championship match under British coach Houghton.
The current fixture is a very different to that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are absolutely buzzing after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since last month following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The smart money is on the home team tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this match tracking. The Scottish side have already been lost to a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are at the foot of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the league phase with no points whatsoever. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a late surge for a knockout position.
Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the latest scores from the concluded fixtures, including Villa vs Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
