Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Braga vs Rangers, and More – Europa League News
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Lineups announced: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Team news: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Preamble
League Position
These early results strongly influence the competition standings. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and returned to the safety of playoff places.
| Pos | Club | Played | Goal 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
Aston Villa secured for the win and went equal on points with leaders Midtjylland at the peak of the competition table. The Birmingham club made hard work of that in the final stages.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys earned a hope through Monteiro but only have four more minutes to get the tying goal!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A memorable and crucial win for the Scottish team. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Reo Hatate and Nygren.
Latest Action
The Birmingham side, concurrently, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at Villa Park.
Malen's double there caused dramatic events in the away end, with visiting fans engaging with police. Scuffles broke out and projectiles hurled at both the officers and at the playing surface, with the player being struck in the head by a drinking vessel.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
The Reds: John Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, The midfielder, McAtee, The winger, The striker.
Malmö: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Official: The German referee (Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Glasgow side: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, The midfielder, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, The striker.
Match official: Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Preamble
The European clash and past encounters. The these sides have a unique relationship, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the premier competition final from 1979 that connects these teams, with Britain's first £1m player Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the red half of Nottingham.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, unassuming and low-key amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the celebrations," commented the writer. This represented an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from Second Division to European stage in a short period."
It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Scandinavian side to reach the final under English manager Bob Houghton.
This match is a distant from that summit, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are absolutely buzzing after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The popular prediction is on the Forest tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this match tracking. The Scottish side have already been defeated by a Braga this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the 36-team Europa League standings at the middle of the league phase with no points whatsoever. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a qualification place.
Coverage will persist with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the current standings from the previous games, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
