Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers vs Braga, and More – UEFA Europa League Updates
Live Updates
Important Updates
- Match ended: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Game over: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Team news: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Team news: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Introduction
League Position
The initial outcomes strongly influence the Europa League table. The Glasgow side rose to the 17th spot and regained position in the protected playoff places.
| Pos | Team | Played | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Villa managed to hold on for the win and went equal on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the competition table. The Birmingham club made hard work of that during the closing minutes.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
The Swiss side created a chance through Monteiro but were left with stoppage time to find an equaliser!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A significant and important win for the Glasgow side. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang, the Japanese midfielder and the Swedish striker.
Match Updates
Aston Villa, meanwhile, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at Villa Park.
The Dutch forward's brace there sparked furious scenes in the away end, with Young Boys supporters engaging with police. Punches were thrown and objects thrown at both the authorities and at the playing surface, with Malen himself being caught on the head by a throwable object.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, The center-back, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, The attacker, The winger, The striker.
Malmö FF: Ellborg, Larsen, Jansson, Duric, The full-back, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: Harm Osmers (from Germany)
Starting Players
The Light Blues: The goalkeeper, The defender, Fernandez, The defender, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, The striker.
Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, The forward, Horta.
Match official: The Dutch referee (Holland)
Historical Context
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and memories of 1979. The both teams have a special connection, also competing in Forest's previous European adventure in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the European Cup final from 1979 that entwines these two together, with the groundbreaking transfer Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory for the the English club.
"Forest's famous bosses, 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. Theirs has been an remarkable feat that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to European football in a short period."
It's also interesting to consider Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Scandinavian side to advance to the ultimate game under manager Houghton.
Tonight's game is a very different to that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are absolutely buzzing after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The smart money is on the Forest tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this clockwatch. Rangers have already been lost to a Braga this season. Rangers are at the foot of the league rankings at the midpoint of the group stage with exactly zero. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a late surge for a qualification place.
We'll keep you up to date with all the late games and provide the most recent results from the concluded fixtures, including Villa vs Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
