Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – Europa League News
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Important Updates
- Full-time: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Team news: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Opening notes
League Position
The initial outcomes have significant impact on the competition standings. Celtic have moved up to 17th position and are back in the secure qualification spots.
| Position | Side | Matches | 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
Villa managed to hold on for the three points and went equal on points with leaders Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. The English side made hard work of that at the end.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys earned a hope through Monteiro but had just stoppage time to get the tying goal!
Celtic Secure Victory
A famous and valuable 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
The Birmingham side, at the same time, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at the stadium.
The Dutch forward's brace there sparked furious scenes 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 Malen himself being caught on the head by a plastic cup.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Nottingham Forest: Victor, Abbott, The center-back, Murillo, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, Dominguez, The attacker, The winger, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, The full-back, The midfielder, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Referee: Harm Osmers (German)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Light Blues: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, The center-back, Djiga, The full-back, The midfielder, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, Horta.
Referee: Lindhout (Holland)
Historical Context
Forest vs Malmö and past encounters. The these sides have a special connection, also meeting in Forest's last European campaign in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the European Cup final decades past that entwines these two together, with the groundbreaking transfer Francis netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to secure historic victory 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 celebrations," wrote the match reporter. This represented an remarkable feat that it is unlikely to be replicated – from the lower league to European stage in three seasons."
Worth mentioning to pause a little on Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Scandinavian side to advance to the ultimate game under British coach Houghton.
The current fixture is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are absolutely buzzing after defeating Liverpool convincingly at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The popular prediction is on the Forest tonight.
Additional games on offer in this live coverage. 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 middle of the initial phase with no points whatsoever. They badly want a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a late surge for a knockout position.
Coverage will persist with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the most recent results from the previous games, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
