Forest vs Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – Europa League Coverage
Live Updates
Major Moments
- Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Game over: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Starting XI: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Lineups revealed: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Introduction
Current Table
The opening scores strongly influence the competition standings. Celtic climbed to the 17th spot and returned to the safety of playoff places.
| Position | Team | Matches | 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 three points and went equal on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the league phase standings. The English side struggled of that in the final stages.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys earned a lifeline through Monteiro but were left with four more minutes to get the tying goal!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A memorable and crucial win for the Glasgow side. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, Hatate and the Swedish striker.
Game Developments
The Birmingham side, at the same time, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at their home ground.
The Dutch forward's brace there caused dramatic events in the opposition stands, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Punches were thrown and projectiles hurled at both the police and at the playing surface, with the player being struck in the head by a plastic cup.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Referee: Osmers (Germany)
Starting Players
Rangers: Butland, The defender, The center-back, The defender, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.
Match official: Lindhout (Holland)
Preamble
Forest vs Malmö and memories of 1979. The both teams have a historical link, also meeting in Forest's most recent continental tour in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the European Cup final from 1979 that connects these teams, with Britain's first £1m player the English forward netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to secure historic victory for the Forest supporters.
"The legendary management duo, modestly dressed amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the mafficking," wrote the match reporter. This represented an extraordinary accomplishment that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to European stage in three seasons."
Worth mentioning to reflect upon Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Swedish club to reach the final under English manager Bob Houghton.
The current fixture is a distant from that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are riding high after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the end of the Swedish league season. The smart money is on the English side tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this match tracking. The Scottish side have already been beaten by a European rival this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the 36-team Europa League standings at the half-way stage of the initial phase with precisely zero points. They badly want a victory if they are to have any hope of making a late surge for a qualification place.
Coverage will persist with all the evening matches and provide the latest scores from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
