Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Full-time: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Goal scored!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Full-time: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Starting XI: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Lineups revealed: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Introduction
League Position
The initial outcomes strongly influence the competition standings. Celtic climbed to the 17th spot and regained position in the protected qualification spots.
| 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
The English side clung on for the three points and moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the group rankings. The Birmingham club struggled of that in the final stages.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys earned a chance through Monteiro but were left with four more minutes to score the leveler!
Celtic Secure Victory
A significant and important win for the Glasgow side. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Match Updates
Aston Villa, concurrently, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at the stadium.
Malen's double there caused dramatic events in the visitors' section, with Swiss fans clashing with police. Scuffles broke out and objects thrown at both the officers and onto the pitch, with the player being struck in the head by a plastic cup.
Starting XI Revealed
The Reds: The goalkeeper, Abbott, The center-back, Murillo, The full-back, The midfielder, Sangare, The midfielder, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
Malmö: Ellborg, Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, The forward, Busanello.
Referee: The German referee (German)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
Rangers: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, The midfielder, Diomande, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, The striker.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, The midfielder, The attacker, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Referee: The Dutch referee (from Netherlands)
Preamble
The European clash and past encounters. The these sides have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's last European campaign in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the continental championship decades past that connects these teams, with Britain's first £1m player Francis netting the decisive goal of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the red half of Nottingham.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, unassuming and low-key amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the mafficking," wrote the match reporter. Their achievement was an extraordinary accomplishment that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from the lower league to European football in just three years."
It's also interesting to consider Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Nordic team to make the championship match under manager Houghton.
The current fixture is a distant from that peak, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie 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 last month following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The general expectation is on the Forest tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this clockwatch. Rangers have already been defeated by a Braga this season. Rangers are at the foot of the league rankings at the midpoint of the league phase with exactly zero. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any hope of making a recovery for a playoff spot.
We'll keep you up to date with all the late games and provide the current standings from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
