Forest vs Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – Europa League Updates
Live Updates
Important Updates
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Full-time: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Lineups announced: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Lineups revealed: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Introduction
Latest Standings
These early results have significant impact on the competition standings. Celtic climbed to 17th place and returned to the protected playoff places.
| Position | Team | P | GD | 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
The English side clung on for the win and became tied on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the top of the league phase standings. Villa struggled of that in the final stages.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys gave themselves a lifeline through Monteiro but had just four more minutes to find an equaliser!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A significant and important win for the Celtic. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Reo Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Match Updates
Aston Villa, concurrently, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.
The Dutch forward's brace there caused dramatic events in the away end, with visiting fans clashing with police. Physical altercations occurred and projectiles hurled at both the authorities and toward the field, with the goalscorer being caught on the head by a drinking vessel.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Forest: John Victor, The defender, The center-back, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, The defender, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: The German referee (German)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, The defender, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, The striker.
Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, The experienced midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, Navarro, Horta.
Referee: The Dutch referee (Holland)
Historical Context
Forest vs Malmö and memories of 1979. The two clubs have a historical link, also meeting in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the European Cup final from 1979 that links these clubs, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis heading the only goal of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory for the red half of Nottingham.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the mafficking," wrote the match reporter. Their achievement was an outstanding achievement that it is unlikely to be replicated – from Second Division to European stage in three seasons."
One should note to reflect upon Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Swedish club to make the championship match under manager Houghton.
The current fixture is a very different to that summit, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are riding high after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since 9 November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The general expectation is on the English side tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this live coverage. The Glasgow club have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are at the foot of the league rankings at the half-way stage of the league phase with no points whatsoever. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a playoff spot.
Updates will continue with all the late games and provide the latest scores from the concluded fixtures, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
