Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – UEFA Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Full-time: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Goal scored!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Match concluded: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Team news: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Team news: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Introduction
Current Table
These early results have significant impact on the Europa League table. Celtic climbed to 17th place and returned to the protected playoff places.
| Position | Side | Matches | GD | 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 victory and went equal on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the competition table. The English side struggled of that during the closing minutes.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys gave themselves a hope through Monteiro but only have four more minutes to find an equaliser!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A memorable and crucial win for the Celtic. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang, the Japanese midfielder and Benjamin Nygren.
Latest Action
Villa, meanwhile, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at their home ground.
Malen's second goal there triggered intense reactions in the opposition stands, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Scuffles broke out and objects thrown at both the authorities and toward the field, with Malen himself being caught on the head by a throwable object.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Forest: Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: Ellborg, Larsen, The center-back, The defender, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, The midfielder, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Referee: The German referee (German)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
Rangers: The goalkeeper, The defender, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, The defender, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, Horta.
Match official: Allard Lindhout (Netherlands)
Preamble
Forest vs Malmö and historical connections. The both teams have a unique relationship, also facing each other in Forest's most recent continental tour in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the premier competition final decades past that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer Francis heading the only goal of a largely forgettable match to claim legendary status for the Forest supporters.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the celebrations," commented the writer. Their achievement was an extraordinary accomplishment that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to European football in just three years."
Worth mentioning to pause a little on Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Scandinavian side to reach the final under British coach Houghton.
The current fixture is a very different to that summit, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are full of confidence after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since last month following the end of the Swedish league season. The smart money is on the home team tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this clockwatch. The Scottish side have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the league rankings at the half-way stage of the group stage with precisely zero points. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a qualification place.
Coverage will persist with all the evening matches and provide the most recent results from the earlier matches, including the Birmingham match and Feyenoord v Celtic.
