Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and More – Europa League News
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Final whistle: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Goal scored!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Match concluded: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Starting XI: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Lineups revealed: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Preamble
League Position
These early results greatly affect the league rankings. Celtic have moved up to 17th place and regained position in the protected knockout positions.
| Rank | Side | 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 three points and went equal on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the group rankings. The English side had difficulty of that during the closing minutes.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
The Swiss side created a hope through Monteiro but had just stoppage time to score the leveler!
Celtic Secure Victory
A famous and valuable win for the Celtic. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, the Japanese midfielder and the Swedish striker.
Game Developments
Aston Villa, at the same time, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's double there caused dramatic events in the away end, with Young Boys supporters engaging with police. Physical altercations occurred and objects thrown at both the officers and toward the field, with the goalscorer being hit on the head by a drinking vessel.
Starting XI Revealed
Nottingham Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, The center-back, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, The midfielder, McAtee, The winger, The striker.
Malmö FF: The goalkeeper, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: Osmers (from Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Light Blues: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.
The Arsenalistas: The goalkeeper, Gomez, The center-back, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Ricardo Horta.
Referee: Allard Lindhout (Holland)
Preamble
The European clash and memories of 1979. The both teams have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the European Cup final from 1979 that links these clubs, with the groundbreaking transfer the English forward scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the red half of Nottingham.
"Forest's famous bosses, unassuming and low-key amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the mafficking," commented the writer. Their achievement was an remarkable feat that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from Second Division to continental competition in three seasons."
One should note to consider Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Scandinavian side to reach the final under British coach Houghton.
Tonight's game is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are full of confidence after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since early November following the end of the Swedish league season. The smart money is on the home team tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this live coverage. The Glasgow club have already been beaten by a Braga this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the league rankings at the half-way stage of the league phase with precisely zero points. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a qualification place.
Coverage will persist with all the evening matches and provide the latest scores from the concluded fixtures, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
