Forest vs Malmö, Rangers vs Braga, and Additional – UEFA Europa League Updates
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Final whistle: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Goal scored!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Game over: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Lineups revealed: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Preamble
League Position
The opening scores strongly influence the league rankings. Celtic climbed to 17th place and are back in the safety of knockout positions.
| Rank | Team | Played | 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 three points and became tied on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the peak of the group rankings. The Birmingham club struggled of that in the final stages.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys earned a lifeline through Monteiro but only have four more minutes to get the tying goal!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A significant and important win for the Scottish team. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and Nygren.
Match Updates
Villa, at the same time, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at Villa Park.
Malen's second goal there caused dramatic events in the opposition stands, with Swiss fans confronting police. Punches were thrown and objects thrown at both the authorities and at the playing surface, with the goalscorer being hit on the head by a drinking vessel.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, The attacker, The winger, The striker.
The Swedish side: Ellborg, The defender, The center-back, Duric, The full-back, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Match official: Osmers (from Germany)
Starting Players
The Light Blues: The goalkeeper, The defender, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, The forward, The striker.
Match official: The Dutch referee (from Netherlands)
Preamble
The European clash and memories of 1979. The two clubs have a unique relationship, also meeting in Forest's most recent continental tour in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the premier competition final from 1979 that links these clubs, with the record-breaking signing Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory for the Forest supporters.
"Forest's famous bosses, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the revelry," wrote the match reporter. Theirs has been an remarkable feat that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from Second Division to European stage in three seasons."
One should note to consider Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Scandinavian side to reach the final under manager Houghton.
The current fixture is a very different to that summit, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are absolutely buzzing after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since early November following the end of the Swedish league season. The smart money is on the English side tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this live coverage. The Scottish side have already been lost to a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the competition table at the midpoint of the group stage with precisely zero points. They badly want a victory if they are to have any hope of making a late surge for a knockout position.
Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the current standings from the concluded fixtures, including the Birmingham match and Feyenoord v Celtic.
