Forest vs Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and More – Europa League News
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Key Events
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Game over: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Lineups announced: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Starting players: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Preamble
Latest Standings
The opening scores have significant impact on the competition standings. The Glasgow side rose to the 17th spot and regained position in the safety of playoff places.
| Pos | Side | Played | 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 |
Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
The English side clung on for the victory and moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. The Birmingham club made hard work of that in the final stages.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys earned a chance through Monteiro but only have additional time to find an equaliser!
Celtic Secure Victory
A famous and valuable win for the Celtic. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, the Japanese midfielder and Benjamin Nygren.
Game Developments
Aston Villa, at the same time, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's double there triggered intense reactions in the away end, with Swiss fans confronting police. Punches were thrown and objects thrown at both the police and onto the pitch, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a plastic cup.
Starting XI Revealed
Nottingham Forest: Victor, The defender, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, The striker.
Malmö: The goalkeeper, Stryger Larsen, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, The midfielder, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Official: Harm Osmers (German)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, Barron, The midfielder, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, The striker.
The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.
Match official: Lindhout (Holland)
Historical Context
Forest vs Malmö and past encounters. The both teams have a historical link, also competing in Forest's previous European adventure 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 Francis heading the only goal of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory 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 serenely viewing the mafficking," wrote the match reporter. Their achievement was an outstanding achievement that it is unlikely to be replicated – from second tier to European football in three seasons."
Worth mentioning to pause a little on Malmö, who became the initial and final Nordic team to reach the final under English manager Bob Houghton.
Tonight's game is a distant from that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are riding high after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since early November following the end of the Swedish league season. The general expectation is on the English side tonight.
Additional games on offer in this live coverage. The Scottish side have already been lost to a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the league rankings at the half-way stage of the initial phase with precisely zero points. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a late surge for a qualification place.
Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the current standings from the earlier matches, including Villa vs Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
