Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and More – Europa League News
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Final whistle: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Full-time: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Team news: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Lineups revealed: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Opening notes
League Position
These early results have significant impact on the Europa League table. The Glasgow side rose to the 17th spot and regained position in the secure knockout positions.
| Pos | Side | P | 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
The English side clung on for the victory and became tied on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. The English side made hard work of that at the end.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
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 significant and important win for the Scottish team. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang, Reo Hatate and Nygren.
Latest Action
Aston Villa, meanwhile, 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 opposition stands, with visiting fans clashing with police. Punches were thrown and items launched at both the officers and toward the field, with the goalscorer being struck in the head by a plastic cup.
Starting XI Revealed
The Reds: John Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, The defensive midfielder, The midfielder, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, The midfielder, Bolin, The forward, The striker.
Referee: Harm Osmers (Germany)
Starting Players
The Light Blues: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, The striker.
The Arsenalistas: The goalkeeper, Gomez, The center-back, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, Horta.
Match official: Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Preamble
The European clash and past encounters. The these sides have a special connection, also meeting in Forest's most recent continental tour in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship decades past that entwines these two together, with Britain's first £1m player Francis heading the only goal 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 festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the revelry," commented the writer. Their achievement was an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from the lower league to European stage in just three years."
Worth mentioning to pause a little on Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Nordic team to advance to the ultimate game under English manager Bob Houghton.
The current fixture is a distant from that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are riding high after beating Liverpool 3-0 at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the end of the Swedish league season. The smart money is on the home team 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 league rankings at the half-way stage of the initial phase with exactly zero. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any hope of making a late surge for a knockout position.
We'll keep you up to date with all the evening matches and provide the most recent results from the concluded fixtures, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
