Forest vs Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and More – Europa League News
Match Coverage
Major Moments
- Full-time: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- Score!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Match concluded: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
- Team news: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Lineups revealed: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Introduction
League Position
The opening scores strongly influence the Europa League table. Celtic climbed to 17th position and returned to the protected playoff places.
| Position | Team | P | 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 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Aston Villa secured for the victory and went equal on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the peak of the group rankings. The English side had difficulty of that in the final stages.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
Young Boys gave themselves a lifeline through Monteiro but had just additional time to get the tying goal!
Glasgow Side Wins 3-1
A famous and valuable win for the Scottish team. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and the Swedish striker.
Latest Action
Villa, concurrently, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at Villa Park.
The Dutch forward's brace there triggered intense reactions in the opposition stands, with visiting fans clashing with police. Scuffles broke out and projectiles hurled at both the officers and onto the pitch, with the goalscorer being struck in the head by a throwable object.
Starting XI Revealed
Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, The midfielder, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
Malmö: The goalkeeper, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Official: The German referee (Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Light Blues: Butland, Tavernier, The center-back, Djiga, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, The striker.
Braga: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, The forward, Horta.
Match official: Allard Lindhout (Netherlands)
Preamble
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and past encounters. The both teams have a historical link, also meeting in Forest's most recent continental tour in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the premier competition final from 1979 that entwines these two together, with Britain's first £1m player Francis heading the only goal of a pretty miserable final to clinch eternal glory for the Forest supporters.
"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," noted the journalist. Their achievement was an extraordinary accomplishment that it is unlikely to be replicated – from second tier to continental competition in just three years."
Worth mentioning to consider Malmö, who became the initial and final Scandinavian side to advance to the ultimate game under British coach Houghton.
This match is a far cry from that peak, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are riding high after thrashing Liverpool at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since last month following the completion of Allsvenskan. The general expectation is on the home team tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this clockwatch. The Glasgow club have already been lost to a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the league rankings at the midpoint of the league phase with exactly zero. They badly want a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a late surge for a playoff spot.
Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the current standings from the concluded fixtures, including the Birmingham match and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
