Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – UEFA Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Final whistle: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Goal scored!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Full-time: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Team news: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Lineups revealed: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Introduction
Latest Standings
The initial outcomes have significant impact on the competition standings. Celtic climbed to 17th position and regained position in the secure qualification spots.
| Rank | Side | P | 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
Aston Villa secured for the three points and became tied on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the group rankings. Villa struggled of that at the end.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys earned a lifeline through Monteiro but were left with four more minutes to get the tying goal!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A memorable and crucial win for the Glasgow side. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Reo Hatate and Nygren.
Game Developments
Aston Villa, at the same time, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at the stadium.
Malen's double there caused dramatic events in the opposition stands, with visiting fans clashing with police. Scuffles broke out and items launched at both the authorities and toward the field, with the player being struck in the head by a plastic cup.
Starting XI Revealed
The Reds: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, The midfielder, The attacker, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
Malmö FF: The goalkeeper, Stryger Larsen, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, The midfielder, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Official: The German referee (from Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Glasgow side: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, Horta.
Official: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Preamble
The European clash and past encounters. The two clubs have a special connection, also meeting in Forest's last European campaign in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the premier competition final decades past that entwines these two together, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a rather dull championship game to clinch eternal glory for the red half of Nottingham.
"The legendary management duo, modestly dressed amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the revelry," wrote the match reporter. Theirs has been an remarkable feat that it is hard to see being repeated – from Second Division to European stage in three seasons."
It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Swedish club to make the championship match under manager Houghton.
Tonight's game is a very different to that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are absolutely buzzing after defeating Liverpool convincingly at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since early November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The general expectation is on the English side tonight.
Additional games on offer in this clockwatch. The Scottish side have already been defeated by a Braga this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the league rankings at the half-way stage of the group stage with no points whatsoever. They badly want a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a recovery for a qualification place.
We'll keep you up to date with all the evening matches and provide the most recent results from the concluded fixtures, including the Birmingham match and Feyenoord v Celtic.
