Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and More – Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Match ended: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Goal scored!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Full-time: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Lineups announced: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Lineups revealed: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Preamble
Latest Standings
The opening scores have significant impact on the Europa League table. Celtic have moved up to 17th place and returned to the protected knockout positions.
| Position | Team | Matches | Goal 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
The English side clung on for the victory and moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the group rankings. Villa made hard work 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 had just four more minutes to find an equaliser!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A significant and important win for the Scottish team. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from Yang, the Japanese midfielder and the Swedish striker.
Latest Action
The Birmingham side, at the same time, retained 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 away end, with visiting fans confronting police. Punches were thrown and projectiles hurled at both the police and at the playing surface, 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, The defensive midfielder, The midfielder, McAtee, The winger, Kalimuendo.
The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, The full-back, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Official: The German referee (Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
Rangers: Butland, The defender, The center-back, Djiga, Aarons, The midfielder, The midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, Gomez, The center-back, Niakate, The full-back, The midfielder, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Referee: Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Historical Context
The European clash and past encounters. The both teams have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the premier competition final decades past that links these clubs, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a largely forgettable match to claim legendary status for the Forest supporters.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the mafficking," commented the writer. This represented an remarkable feat that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from second tier to continental competition in three seasons."
One should note to reflect upon Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Nordic team to make the championship match under manager Houghton.
The current fixture is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are full of confidence after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since early November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The popular prediction is on the Forest tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this match tracking. The Glasgow club have already been defeated by a Braga this season. Rangers are at the foot of the competition table at the half-way stage of the league phase with no points whatsoever. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a qualification place.
We'll keep you up to date with all the late games and provide the current standings from the concluded fixtures, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.