Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Braga vs Rangers, and More – UEFA Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Full-time: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Game over: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Lineups announced: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Team news: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Opening notes
League Position
The opening scores greatly affect the Europa League table. Celtic have moved up to the 17th spot and are back in the protected knockout positions.
| Pos | Side | P | Difference | 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 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the victory and moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the group rankings. Villa made hard work of that during the closing minutes.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
The Swiss side created a hope through Monteiro but had just four more minutes to score the leveler!
Celtic Secure Victory
A memorable and crucial win for the Glasgow side. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, the Japanese midfielder and the Swedish striker.
Match Updates
The Birmingham side, at the same time, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.
The Dutch forward's brace there sparked furious scenes in the away end, with Young Boys supporters clashing with police. Scuffles broke out and items launched at both the police and at the playing surface, with the goalscorer being caught on the head by a throwable object.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
The Reds: Victor, The defender, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, The attacker, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: Ellborg, Larsen, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, The forward, Busanello.
Match official: Osmers (from Germany)
Starting Players
The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, The center-back, Djiga, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, The striker.
The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, Gomez, The center-back, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Ricardo Horta.
Official: The Dutch referee (Netherlands)
Preamble
The European clash and past encounters. The two clubs 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 links these clubs, with the record-breaking signing Francis netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to secure historic victory for the red half of Nottingham.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, unassuming and low-key amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the celebrations," wrote the match reporter. Theirs has been an remarkable feat that it is unlikely to be replicated – from the lower league to continental competition in a short period."
Worth mentioning to consider Malmö, who became the initial and final Scandinavian side to advance to the ultimate game under British coach Houghton.
This match is a very different to that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are full of confidence after thrashing Liverpool at Anfield 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.
Plenty of other action on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been beaten by a European rival this season. Rangers are at the foot of the 36-team Europa League standings at the half-way stage of the initial phase with exactly zero. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a playoff spot.
Coverage will persist with all the late games and provide the latest scores from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.
