Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers vs Braga, and More – UEFA Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Match ended: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Game over: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Lineups announced: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Starting players: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Opening notes
Latest Standings
These early results strongly influence the Europa League table. Celtic climbed to 17th position and are back in the safety of playoff places.
| Position | Team | P | GD | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 became tied on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the competition table. The English side made hard work of that in the final stages.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys gave themselves a chance through Monteiro but only have additional time to get the tying goal!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A significant and important win for the Scottish team. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Hatate and the Swedish striker.
Latest Action
The Birmingham side, meanwhile, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at the stadium.
The Dutch forward's brace there triggered intense reactions in the opposition stands, with Young Boys supporters clashing with police. Physical altercations occurred and objects thrown at both the police and at the playing surface, with Malen himself being caught on the head by a drinking vessel.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Forest: The goalkeeper, The defender, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, The striker.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, The defender, The full-back, The midfielder, The midfielder, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: Harm Osmers (Germany)
Starting Players
The Light Blues: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, The defender, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Horta.
Official: The Dutch referee (Holland)
Match Background
The European clash and historical connections. The both teams have a unique relationship, also facing each other in Forest's most recent continental tour in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the premier competition final from 1979 that connects these teams, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to clinch eternal glory for the the English club.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the mafficking," commented the writer. Theirs has been an extraordinary accomplishment that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from Second Division to European stage in three seasons."
Worth mentioning to consider Malmö, who became the initial and final Swedish club to make the championship match under British coach Houghton.
This match is a far cry from that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are full of confidence after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since early November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The popular prediction is on the English side tonight.
Additional games on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been lost to a European rival this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the 36-team Europa League standings at the half-way stage of the group stage with exactly zero. They badly want a victory if they are to have any hope of making a late surge for a playoff spot.
We'll keep you up to date with all the evening matches and provide the most recent results from the previous games, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
