Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Braga vs Rangers, and More – Europa League News
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Full-time: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Starting XI: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Team news: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Opening notes
Current Table
These early results strongly influence the competition standings. Celtic climbed to the 17th spot and returned to the safety of qualification spots.
| Rank | Team | Played | Goal 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 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the victory and moved level on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the peak of the league phase standings. The English side had difficulty of that at the end.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys gave themselves a hope through Monteiro but had just stoppage time to get the tying goal!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A significant and important win for the Scottish team. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from the Korean forward, Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Match Updates
The Birmingham side, meanwhile, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at the stadium.
Malen's double there triggered intense reactions in the visitors' section, with visiting fans engaging with police. Punches were thrown and objects thrown at both the police and toward the field, with the player being hit on the head by a throwable object.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, The midfielder, The attacker, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: The goalkeeper, Larsen, Jansson, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, The forward, Busanello.
Referee: Harm Osmers (Germany)
Starting Players
Rangers: Butland, The defender, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, The striker.
Braga: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, Zalazar, Moutinho, The midfielder, The attacker, The forward, Horta.
Referee: Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Match Background
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and memories of 1979. The two clubs have a historical link, also facing each other in Forest's most recent continental tour in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship from 1979 that connects these teams, with the record-breaking signing Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a rather dull championship game to clinch eternal glory for the the English club.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, modestly dressed amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the mafficking," commented the writer. This represented an remarkable feat that it is hard to see being repeated – from the lower league to continental competition in three seasons."
It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Nordic team to advance to the ultimate game under manager Houghton.
Tonight's game is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are full of confidence after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the end of the Swedish league season. The smart money is on the Forest tonight.
Additional games on offer in this live coverage. The Scottish side have already been lost to a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are last place of the league rankings at the half-way stage of the initial phase with exactly zero. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any hope of making a late surge for a knockout position.
Coverage will persist with all the late games and provide the current standings from the concluded fixtures, including the Birmingham match and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
