Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers vs Braga, and More – Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Final whistle: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Game over: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Lineups announced: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Lineups revealed: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Preamble
Current Table
These early results greatly affect the league rankings. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and returned to the protected knockout positions.
| Position | Team | P | 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 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
The English side clung on for the three points and became tied on points with leaders Midtjylland at the peak of the group rankings. The Birmingham club made hard work of that at the end.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys earned a chance through Monteiro but had just additional time to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A memorable and crucial win for the Glasgow side. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and Nygren.
Game Developments
The Birmingham side, meanwhile, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at the stadium.
Malen's second goal there sparked furious scenes in the opposition stands, with Young Boys supporters clashing with police. Punches were thrown and objects thrown at both the authorities and toward the field, with the goalscorer being hit on the head by a throwable object.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Nottingham Forest: John Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, The midfielder, McAtee, The winger, The striker.
Malmö: The goalkeeper, The defender, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Referee: Osmers (German)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Glasgow side: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, Horta.
Referee: Allard Lindhout (Holland)
Historical Context
Forest vs Malmö and memories of 1979. The these sides have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's most recent continental tour in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the premier competition final 46 years ago that entwines these two together, with the record-breaking signing the English forward heading the only goal of a pretty miserable final to clinch eternal glory for the the English club.
"Forest's famous bosses, modestly dressed amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the mafficking," commented the writer. Theirs has been an extraordinary accomplishment that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from Second Division to European football in three seasons."
Worth mentioning to consider Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Nordic team to reach the final under manager Houghton.
Tonight's game is a very different to that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are full of confidence after thrashing Liverpool at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since last month following the end of the Swedish league season. The popular prediction is on the Forest tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been lost to a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the initial phase with exactly zero. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a late surge for a playoff spot.
Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the latest scores from the previous games, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
