Forest vs Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – Europa League Coverage
Live Updates
Important Updates
- Final whistle: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Goal scored!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Match concluded: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Lineups announced: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Starting players: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Opening notes
League Position
The opening scores strongly influence the league rankings. Celtic climbed to the 17th spot and regained position in the safety of qualification spots.
| Rank | Team | Played | Difference | 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 table-toppers Midtjylland at the peak of the group rankings. The English side struggled of that during the closing minutes.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys gave themselves a chance through Monteiro but only have additional time to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A famous and valuable win for the Scottish team. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang, Hatate and the Swedish striker.
Latest Action
The Birmingham side, meanwhile, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at Villa Park.
Malen's double there triggered intense reactions in the visitors' section, with Young Boys supporters engaging with police. Punches were thrown and projectiles hurled at both the police and toward the field, with the player being struck in the head by a throwable object.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
The Reds: Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, The attacker, The winger, Kalimuendo.
The Swedish side: Ellborg, The defender, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Referee: The German referee (from Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Glasgow side: Butland, The defender, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, The midfielder, The midfielder, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Referee: The Dutch referee (Holland)
Historical Context
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and memories of 1979. The these sides have a unique relationship, also competing in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship from 1979 that links these clubs, with the record-breaking signing Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the Forest supporters.
"Forest's famous bosses, modestly dressed amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the revelry," noted the journalist. This represented an outstanding achievement that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from Second Division to European stage in just three years."
Worth mentioning to consider Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Scandinavian side to advance to the ultimate game under English manager Bob Houghton.
This match is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter 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 end of the Swedish league season. The smart money is on the home team tonight.
Additional games on offer in this clockwatch. The Glasgow club have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the middle of the group stage with precisely zero points. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a comeback for a playoff spot.
We'll keep you up to date with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the latest scores from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
