Forest vs Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and More – UEFA Europa League News
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Match ended: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Full-time: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Starting players: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Preamble
Latest Standings
The initial outcomes strongly influence the competition standings. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and returned to the secure playoff places.
| Rank | Team | Played | GD | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 win and moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the group rankings. 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 lifeline through Monteiro but only have additional time to find an equaliser!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A memorable and crucial win for the Glasgow side. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from Yang, Hatate and Nygren.
Game Developments
Villa, meanwhile, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at the stadium.
The Dutch forward's brace there caused dramatic events in the away end, with Young Boys supporters engaging with police. Physical altercations occurred and projectiles hurled at both the police and toward the field, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a drinking vessel.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
The Reds: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, The full-back, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, The midfielder, Bolin, The forward, The striker.
Match official: Harm Osmers (from Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, The midfielder, The midfielder, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, Gomez, The center-back, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Referee: Allard Lindhout (Netherlands)
Historical Context
Forest vs Malmö and past encounters. The these sides have a unique relationship, also competing in Forest's previous European adventure in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the continental championship 46 years ago that entwines these two together, with Britain's first £1m player the English forward heading the only goal of a rather dull championship game to clinch eternal glory for the red half of Nottingham.
"The legendary management duo, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the celebrations," wrote the match reporter. Theirs has been an remarkable feat that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from the lower league to European football in three seasons."
It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the initial and final Swedish club to advance to the ultimate game under manager Houghton.
The current fixture is a distant from that peak, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are riding high after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The smart money is on the English side tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this clockwatch. The Glasgow club have already been defeated by a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the league rankings at the middle of the league phase with precisely zero points. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any hope of making a recovery for a knockout position.
Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the most recent results from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.
