Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – UEFA Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Full-time: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- GOAL!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Game over: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Team news: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Lineups revealed: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Opening notes
Current Table
These early results have significant impact on the Europa League table. Celtic have moved up to 17th place and are back in the protected playoff places.
| Position | Club | P | Goal 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
Villa managed to hold on for the victory and became tied on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the top of the group rankings. Villa made hard work of that in the final stages.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys earned a lifeline through Monteiro but were left with additional time to score the leveler!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A famous and valuable win for the Glasgow side. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from Yang, the Japanese midfielder and Nygren.
Game Developments
The Birmingham side, meanwhile, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at their home ground.
Malen's second goal there caused dramatic events in the away end, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Physical altercations occurred and objects thrown at both the police and onto the pitch, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a drinking vessel.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
The Reds: Victor, The defender, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
The Swedish side: Ellborg, The defender, Jansson, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: Harm Osmers (German)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, The center-back, Djiga, Aarons, The midfielder, Diomande, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, The striker.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, The forward, Ricardo Horta.
Official: The Dutch referee (Holland)
Historical Context
Forest vs Malmö and past encounters. The both teams have a historical link, also meeting in Forest's last European campaign in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship decades past that links these clubs, with the record-breaking signing the English forward netting the decisive goal of a largely forgettable match to clinch eternal glory for the the English club.
"Forest's famous bosses, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the revelry," commented the writer. Theirs has been an extraordinary accomplishment that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to continental competition in just three years."
It's also interesting to pause a little on Malmö, who became the initial and final Scandinavian side to reach the final under English manager Bob Houghton.
The current fixture is a far cry from that summit, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are absolutely buzzing after beating Liverpool 3-0 at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since early 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 match tracking. The Scottish side have already been lost to a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are at the foot of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the league phase with no points whatsoever. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a late surge for a knockout position.
We'll keep you up to date with all the late games and provide the most recent results from the concluded fixtures, including the Birmingham match and Feyenoord v Celtic.
