Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – Europa League News
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Full-time: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Goal scored!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Game over: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Lineups announced: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Starting players: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Preamble
League Position
The initial outcomes strongly influence the Europa League table. Celtic have moved up to the 17th spot and are back in the secure knockout positions.
| Position | Club | 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
Villa managed to hold on for the victory and went equal on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. The English side made hard work of that during the closing minutes.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys gave themselves a lifeline through Monteiro but had just additional time to score the leveler!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A famous and valuable win for the Celtic. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang, Reo Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Latest Action
The Birmingham side, meanwhile, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at Villa Park.
The Dutch forward's brace there triggered intense reactions in the visitors' section, with visiting fans confronting police. Scuffles broke out and items launched at both the police and onto the pitch, with the player being hit on the head by a throwable object.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
The Reds: Victor, The defender, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, The midfielder, McAtee, The winger, Kalimuendo.
Malmö FF: The goalkeeper, The defender, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Official: The German referee (German)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
Rangers: Butland, The defender, The center-back, The defender, Aarons, The midfielder, The midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, The forward, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Joao Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, The forward, The striker.
Referee: Allard Lindhout (Holland)
Historical Context
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and memories of 1979. The two clubs have a unique relationship, also competing in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the European Cup final 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 the English club.
"Forest's famous bosses, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the mafficking," noted the journalist. Their achievement was an extraordinary accomplishment that it is hard to see being repeated – from Second Division to European stage in a short period."
One should note to consider Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Scandinavian side to advance to the ultimate game under manager Houghton.
This match is a distant from that summit, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are full of confidence after thrashing Liverpool at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The smart money is on the Forest tonight.
Additional games on offer in this clockwatch. Rangers have already been beaten by a European rival this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the 36-team Europa League standings at the half-way stage of the group stage with precisely zero points. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a qualification place.
Coverage will persist with all the late games and provide the most recent results from the previous games, including the Birmingham match and Feyenoord v Celtic.
