Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers v Braga, and More – Europa League Coverage
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Major Moments
- Match ended: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Goal scored!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Team news: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Team news: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Introduction
League Position
The opening scores have significant impact on the competition standings. Celtic climbed to 17th place and regained position in the protected knockout positions.
| Rank | Side | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
Villa managed to hold on for the victory and moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. Villa made hard work of that at the end.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
The Swiss side created a lifeline through Monteiro but were left with four more minutes to get the tying goal!
Celtic Secure Victory
A significant and important win for the Scottish team. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, the Japanese midfielder and the Swedish striker.
Game Developments
Aston Villa, concurrently, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's second goal there triggered intense reactions in the away end, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Punches were thrown and items launched at both the police and toward the field, with Malen himself being hit on the head by a plastic cup.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, The attacker, The winger, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, The defender, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, The forward, Busanello.
Referee: Osmers (Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Glasgow side: The goalkeeper, The defender, Fernandez, The defender, The full-back, The midfielder, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, The striker.
The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.
Official: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Match Background
Forest vs Malmö and historical connections. The both teams have a unique relationship, also facing each other in Forest's last European campaign 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 Trevor Francis heading the only goal of a largely forgettable match to claim legendary status for the Forest supporters.
"The legendary management duo, modestly dressed amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the mafficking," noted the journalist. Theirs has been an extraordinary accomplishment that it is hard to see being repeated – from Second Division to European football in a short period."
It's also interesting to pause a little on Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Swedish club to advance to the ultimate game under English manager Bob Houghton.
The current fixture is a very different to that summit, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are absolutely buzzing after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The popular prediction is on the home team tonight.
Additional games on offer in this live coverage. Rangers have already been defeated by a Braga this season. Rangers are at the foot of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the group stage with no points whatsoever. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a comeback for a qualification place.
Updates will continue with all the late games and provide the most recent results from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
