Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Braga vs Rangers, and More – Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Final whistle: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Game over: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Lineups announced: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Lineups revealed: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Preamble
Latest Standings
The opening scores have significant impact on the competition standings. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and returned to the protected qualification spots.
| Rank | Side | P | Difference | 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
The English side clung on for the win and became tied on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the peak of the competition table. The English side had difficulty of that during the closing minutes.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
The Swiss side created a lifeline through Monteiro but only have additional time to score the leveler!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A famous and valuable win for the Celtic. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from the Korean forward, the Japanese midfielder and the Swedish striker.
Game Developments
Villa, meanwhile, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's double there sparked furious scenes in the away end, with visiting fans engaging with police. Scuffles broke out and items launched at both the authorities and at the playing surface, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a throwable object.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, The attacker, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Official: Osmers (German)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Light Blues: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Arsenalistas: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, Horta.
Referee: Lindhout (Netherlands)
Match Background
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and memories of 1979. The both teams have a unique relationship, also facing each other in Forest's most recent continental tour in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the premier competition final 46 years ago that connects these teams, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a rather dull championship game to secure historic victory for the red half of Nottingham.
"Forest's famous bosses, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the celebrations," commented the writer. Their achievement was an outstanding achievement that it is unlikely to be replicated – from Second Division to European stage in a short period."
Worth mentioning to pause a little on Malmö, who became the initial and final Swedish club to make the championship match under manager Houghton.
Tonight's game is a distant from that summit, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are riding high after thrashing Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The smart money is on the Forest tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this live coverage. The Glasgow club have already been defeated by a Braga this season. Rangers are at the foot of the competition table at the midpoint of the league phase with exactly zero. They badly want a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a late surge for a qualification place.
Coverage will persist with all the evening matches and provide the current standings from the previous games, including Villa vs Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.