Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers vs Braga, and More – Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Full-time: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- GOAL!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Match concluded: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Lineups announced: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Lineups revealed: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Opening notes
League Position
The opening scores strongly influence the league rankings. Celtic climbed to 17th position and are back in the secure playoff places.
| Rank | Team | Played | 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
Villa managed to hold on for the three points and moved level on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the top of the group rankings. The English side had difficulty of that in the final stages.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys earned a lifeline through Monteiro but only have four more minutes to get the tying goal!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A famous and valuable win for the Scottish team. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang, Reo Hatate and the Swedish striker.
Game Developments
Aston Villa, at the same time, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at their home ground.
The Dutch forward's brace there caused dramatic events in the away end, with Swiss fans engaging with police. Scuffles broke out and projectiles hurled at both the police and at the playing surface, with the player being hit on the head by a throwable object.
Starting XI Revealed
Nottingham Forest: Victor, Abbott, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, The midfielder, Bolin, The forward, Busanello.
Official: Osmers (Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
Rangers: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, The center-back, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, The striker.
Braga: The goalkeeper, The defender, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Ricardo Horta.
Match official: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Preamble
Forest vs Malmö and past encounters. The two clubs have a unique relationship, also competing in Forest's previous European adventure in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the premier competition final decades past that entwines these two together, with the record-breaking signing Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to clinch eternal glory for the Forest supporters.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, unassuming and low-key amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the celebrations," noted the journalist. This represented an remarkable feat that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from Second Division to European football in just three years."
It's also interesting to consider Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Nordic team to reach the final under manager Houghton.
Tonight's game is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are full of confidence after beating Liverpool 3-0 at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since last month following the completion of Allsvenskan. The popular prediction is on the English side tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this clockwatch. The Scottish side have already been beaten by a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the initial phase with no points whatsoever. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a comeback for a playoff spot.
Coverage will persist with all the late games and provide the current standings from the concluded fixtures, including the Birmingham match and Feyenoord v Celtic.
