Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- GOAL!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Match concluded: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Starting players: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Preamble
Latest Standings
These early results greatly affect the league rankings. Celtic climbed to 17th position and are back in the safety of qualification spots.
| Rank | Team | P | Goal Difference | 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 |
Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Villa managed to hold on for the victory and moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the competition table. Villa made hard work of that at the end.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys earned a lifeline through Monteiro but were left with stoppage time to get the tying goal!
Celtic Secure Victory
A significant and important win for the Celtic. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from the Korean forward, the Japanese midfielder and Benjamin Nygren.
Match Updates
Aston Villa, meanwhile, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at the stadium.
Malen's double there caused dramatic events in the away end, with visiting fans engaging with police. Scuffles broke out and items launched at both the officers and at the playing surface, with the player being hit on the head by a throwable object.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Forest: The goalkeeper, The defender, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, The midfielder, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, The attacker, The winger, The striker.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, The midfielder, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Referee: The German referee (Germany)
Starting Players
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, The midfielder, The midfielder, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, The defender, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, The forward, The striker.
Referee: Allard Lindhout (Netherlands)
Preamble
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and historical connections. The two clubs have a historical link, also competing in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the European Cup final from 1979 that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer the English forward heading the only goal of a rather dull championship game to claim legendary status for the red half of Nottingham.
"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 outstanding achievement that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from second tier to continental competition in three seasons."
It's also interesting to consider Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Swedish club to reach the final under British coach Houghton.
Tonight's game is a very different to that summit, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are absolutely buzzing after thrashing Liverpool at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since last month following the completion of Allsvenskan. The popular prediction is on the English side tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this clockwatch. Rangers have already been beaten by a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the competition table at the middle of the group stage with exactly zero. They badly want a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a playoff spot.
Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the current standings from the concluded fixtures, including the Birmingham match and Feyenoord v Celtic.
