Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers v Braga, and More – Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Full-time: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- GOAL!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Match concluded: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
- Starting XI: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Team news: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Opening notes
League Position
The opening scores have significant impact on the competition standings. The Glasgow side rose to the 17th spot and returned to the protected qualification spots.
| Position | Team | Played | 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 |
Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
The English side clung on for the three points and went equal on points with leaders Midtjylland at the top of the league phase standings. The Birmingham club had difficulty of that at the end.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys gave themselves a lifeline through Monteiro but had just four more minutes to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A memorable and crucial win for the Celtic. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, the Japanese midfielder and the Swedish striker.
Latest Action
Villa, meanwhile, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at the stadium.
The Dutch forward's brace there triggered intense reactions in the visitors' section, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Scuffles broke out and objects thrown at both the officers and toward the field, with the goalscorer being caught on the head by a throwable object.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: John Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
The Swedish side: Ellborg, The defender, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Referee: The German referee (Germany)
Team News: Rangers v Braga
The Glasgow side: Butland, The defender, The center-back, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Referee: Allard Lindhout (Netherlands)
Historical Context
The European clash and past encounters. The both teams have a special connection, also meeting in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship 46 years ago that entwines these two together, with the groundbreaking transfer Francis netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to claim legendary status for the Forest supporters.
"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," noted the journalist. Theirs has been an extraordinary accomplishment that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from the lower league to continental competition in just three years."
Worth mentioning to pause a little on Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Nordic team to reach the final under English manager Bob Houghton.
This match is a very different to that summit, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are riding high after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since last month following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The popular prediction is on the English side tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this live coverage. The Scottish side have already been beaten by a Braga this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the league rankings at the half-way stage of the group stage with exactly zero. They badly want a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a recovery for a knockout position.
We'll keep you up to date with all the evening matches and provide the latest scores from the earlier matches, including the Birmingham match and Feyenoord v Celtic.