Forest vs Malmö, Rangers vs Braga, and Additional – Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Match ended: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Score!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Full-time: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Starting XI: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Lineups revealed: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Opening notes
Current Table
These early results greatly affect the league rankings. Celtic climbed to 17th position and returned to the protected qualification spots.
| Pos | Team | Matches | GD | 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
Aston Villa secured for the win and became tied on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the competition table. The English side struggled of that at the end.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys earned a hope through Monteiro but were left with stoppage time to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A famous and valuable win for the Glasgow side. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and Nygren.
Match Updates
Aston Villa, concurrently, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at Villa Park.
Malen's double there triggered intense reactions in the opposition stands, with Swiss fans confronting police. Scuffles broke out and projectiles hurled at both the officers and onto the pitch, with Malen himself being hit on the head by a throwable object.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
The Reds: Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, The midfielder, The defensive midfielder, The midfielder, McAtee, The winger, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: The goalkeeper, The defender, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, The midfielder, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Referee: Harm Osmers (from Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Light Blues: The goalkeeper, The defender, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Official: Allard Lindhout (Holland)
Preamble
The European clash and historical connections. The these sides have a unique relationship, also competing in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship from 1979 that entwines these two together, with Britain's first £1m player the English forward scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory for the Forest supporters.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the revelry," wrote the match reporter. Theirs has been an remarkable feat that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from the lower league to European football in a short period."
It's also interesting to pause a little on Malmö, who became the initial and final Nordic team to make the championship match under British coach Houghton.
This match is a distant from that summit, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are riding high after defeating Liverpool convincingly at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The popular prediction is on the home team tonight.
Additional games on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been lost to a Braga this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the competition table at the middle of the initial phase with no points whatsoever. They badly want a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a late surge for a knockout position.
We'll keep you up to date with all the late games and provide the current standings from the concluded fixtures, including the Birmingham match and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
