Forest vs Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – Europa League News
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Final whistle: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Full-time: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Starting XI: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Lineups revealed: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Opening notes
Latest Standings
The opening scores have significant impact on the league rankings. Celtic have moved up to 17th position and returned to the protected playoff places.
| Rank | Team | Matches | 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
Aston Villa secured for the three points and moved level on points with leaders Midtjylland at the summit of the competition table. The English side had difficulty of that in the final stages.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys gave themselves a chance through Monteiro but had just stoppage time to find an equaliser!
Celtic Secure Victory
A famous and valuable win for the Glasgow side. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Game Developments
The Birmingham side, at the same time, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at Villa Park.
Malen's second goal there triggered intense reactions in the away end, with visiting fans confronting police. Physical altercations occurred and objects thrown at both the police and at the playing surface, with the player being struck in the head by a throwable object.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
The Reds: The goalkeeper, The defender, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, The defensive midfielder, The midfielder, McAtee, The winger, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, The forward, Busanello.
Referee: The German referee (Germany)
Starting Players
Rangers: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, The midfielder, Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.
Match official: Allard Lindhout (Netherlands)
Preamble
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and historical connections. The these sides have a unique relationship, also competing in Forest's most recent continental tour in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the premier competition final decades past that links these clubs, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a largely forgettable match to clinch eternal glory for the red half of Nottingham.
"The legendary management duo, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the celebrations," commented the writer. Their achievement was an outstanding achievement that it is unlikely to be replicated – from the lower league to European football in three seasons."
It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Scandinavian side to reach the final under English manager Bob Houghton.
This match is a distant from that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are full of confidence after beating Liverpool 3-0 at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The smart money is on the home team tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been defeated by a Portuguese opponent 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 urgently require a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a qualification place.
Updates will continue with all the late games and provide the latest scores from the previous games, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.
