Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers vs Braga, and Additional – Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Score!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Full-time: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Starting XI: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Lineups revealed: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Preamble
Latest Standings
The initial outcomes strongly influence the league rankings. Celtic climbed to the 17th spot and are back in the protected knockout positions.
| Rank | Club | P | 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 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
The English side clung on for the victory and became tied on points with leaders Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. Villa had difficulty of that in the final stages.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys earned a lifeline through Monteiro but were left with four more minutes to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A memorable and crucial win for the Celtic. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Match Updates
Villa, meanwhile, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at the stadium.
The Dutch forward's brace there caused dramatic events in the opposition stands, with Young Boys supporters engaging with police. Punches were thrown and projectiles hurled at both the authorities and onto the pitch, with Malen himself being caught on the head by a throwable object.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Forest: John Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, The attacker, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
The Swedish side: Ellborg, The defender, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, The midfielder, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: Harm Osmers (Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Light Blues: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, The forward, The striker.
Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, The center-back, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Official: Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Match Background
Forest vs Malmö and memories of 1979. The these sides have a unique relationship, also competing in Forest's most recent continental tour in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the continental championship decades past that links these clubs, with the record-breaking signing Francis scoring the winner of a largely forgettable match to clinch eternal glory for the Forest supporters.
"Forest's famous bosses, unassuming and low-key amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the celebrations," commented the writer. Their achievement was an extraordinary accomplishment that it is hard to see being repeated – from Second Division to European stage in a short period."
Worth mentioning to consider Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Swedish club to make the championship match under British coach Houghton.
This match 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 beating Liverpool 3-0 at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since early November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The general expectation is on the home team tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this live coverage. The Glasgow club have already been beaten by a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the half-way stage of the group stage with exactly zero. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a late surge for a knockout position.
Coverage will persist with all the late games and provide the current standings from the concluded fixtures, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
