Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – UEFA Europa League Updates
Live Updates
Key Events
- Final whistle: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Goal scored!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Match concluded: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Lineups announced: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Starting players: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Opening notes
Current Table
The opening scores strongly influence the Europa League table. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and regained position in the safety of knockout positions.
| Position | Team | Played | 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 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the three points and went equal on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. Villa had difficulty of that in the final stages.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
The Swiss side created a hope through Monteiro but only have stoppage time to get the tying goal!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A memorable and crucial win for the Glasgow side. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang, Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Match Updates
Aston Villa, concurrently, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at Villa Park.
Malen's second goal there caused dramatic events in the opposition stands, with visiting fans engaging with police. Punches were thrown and projectiles hurled at both the authorities and toward the field, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a throwable object.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Forest: John Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: Osmers (from Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, The midfielder, Diomande, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, The striker.
The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, The defender, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, The midfielder, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Ricardo Horta.
Match official: Allard Lindhout (Netherlands)
Historical Context
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and historical connections. The these sides have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's most recent continental tour in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the premier competition final decades past that links these clubs, with Britain's first £1m player Francis scoring the winner of a rather dull championship game to claim legendary status for the red half of Nottingham.
"Forest's famous bosses, modestly dressed amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the mafficking," commented the writer. Their achievement was an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to European stage in a short period."
It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Swedish club to make the championship match under English manager Bob Houghton.
Tonight's game is a very different to that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are riding high after defeating Liverpool convincingly at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since early November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The smart money is on the home team tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this match tracking. The Scottish side have already been defeated by a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the league phase with precisely zero points. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a qualification place.
Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the current standings from the concluded fixtures, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.
