Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Final whistle: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Game over: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Lineups announced: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Lineups revealed: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Introduction
Latest Standings
The opening scores strongly influence the competition standings. The Glasgow side rose to the 17th spot and returned to the safety of qualification spots.
| Position | Team | Matches | 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
Aston Villa secured for the win and became tied on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the competition table. Villa made hard work of that at the end.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys gave themselves a hope through Monteiro but only have stoppage time to score the leveler!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A memorable and crucial win for the Scottish team. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang, the Japanese midfielder and the Swedish striker.
Game Developments
The Birmingham side, at the same time, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's double there sparked furious scenes in the visitors' section, with Young Boys supporters engaging with police. Scuffles broke out and objects thrown at both the police and toward the field, with Malen himself being caught on the head by a plastic cup.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, The midfielder, The defensive midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: Ellborg, Larsen, Jansson, Duric, The full-back, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, The midfielder, Bolin, The forward, Busanello.
Match official: Osmers (from Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Light Blues: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, Barron, The midfielder, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Arsenalistas: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, The midfielder, Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Match official: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)
Match Background
The European clash and historical connections. The these sides have a special connection, also competing in Forest's most recent continental tour in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the continental championship decades past that entwines these two together, with the groundbreaking transfer Trevor Francis netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to claim legendary status for the red half of Nottingham.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, modestly dressed amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the mafficking," noted the journalist. Theirs has been an remarkable feat that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from Second Division to European stage in three seasons."
Worth mentioning to pause a little on Malmö, who became the initial and final Nordic team to reach the final under British coach Houghton.
Tonight's game is a far cry from that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are full of confidence after thrashing Liverpool at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since early November following the end of the Swedish league season. The general expectation is on the Forest tonight.
Additional games on offer in this match tracking. The Scottish side have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the 36-team Europa League standings at the middle of the league phase with no points whatsoever. They badly want a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a late surge for a playoff spot.
Coverage will persist with all the late games and provide the latest scores from the earlier matches, including the Birmingham match and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
