Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – Europa League News
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Full-time: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Starting XI: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Starting players: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Introduction
League Position
The opening scores greatly affect the competition standings. Celtic climbed to 17th place and regained position in the protected playoff places.
| Pos | Club | 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 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Villa managed to hold on for the three points and moved level on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the peak of the group rankings. The Birmingham club made hard work of that during the closing minutes.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys earned a lifeline through Monteiro but were left with four more minutes to find an equaliser!
Celtic Secure Victory
A famous and valuable win for the Glasgow side. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, the Japanese midfielder and the Swedish striker.
Game Developments
Aston Villa, concurrently, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at Villa Park.
Malen's double there sparked furious scenes in the visitors' section, with visiting fans clashing with police. Scuffles broke out and objects thrown at both the authorities and onto the pitch, with the player being struck in the head by a throwable object.
Starting XI Revealed
Nottingham Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, Dominguez, The attacker, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: Ellborg, The defender, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, The midfielder, Bolin, The forward, Busanello.
Official: The German referee (German)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Glasgow side: Butland, The defender, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.
The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, The midfielder, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Horta.
Official: The Dutch referee (Netherlands)
Historical Context
The European clash and past encounters. The two clubs have a historical link, also competing in Forest's most recent continental tour in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the European Cup final 46 years ago that entwines these two together, with Britain's first £1m player Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the Forest supporters.
"The legendary management duo, modestly dressed amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the mafficking," commented the writer. Their achievement was an outstanding achievement that it is unlikely to be replicated – from second tier to European football in a short period."
Worth mentioning to reflect upon Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Scandinavian side to make the championship match under British coach Houghton.
This match is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are full of confidence after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since early November following the end of the Swedish league season. The general expectation is on the home team tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this clockwatch. Rangers have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are at the foot of the league rankings at the midpoint of the league phase with precisely zero points. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a qualification place.
Coverage will persist with all the late games and provide the current standings from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
