Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers vs Braga, and More – Europa League Updates
Live Updates
Major Moments
- Match ended: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
- Full-time: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Team news: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Starting players: Rangers v Braga teams!
- Preamble
Latest Standings
The opening scores have significant impact on the Europa League table. Celtic have moved up to the 17th spot and regained position in the protected knockout positions.
| Position | Side | Matches | Difference | 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 victory and went equal on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the summit of the competition table. The Birmingham club made hard work of that at the end.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys earned a lifeline through Monteiro but had just stoppage time to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A significant and important win for the Celtic. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from the Korean forward, the Japanese midfielder and Benjamin Nygren.
Latest Action
Villa, meanwhile, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at Villa Park.
The Dutch forward's brace there triggered intense reactions in the visitors' section, with Swiss fans engaging with police. Physical altercations occurred and objects thrown at both the officers and onto the pitch, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a drinking vessel.
Starting XI Revealed
Nottingham Forest: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: The goalkeeper, The defender, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, The forward, The striker.
Official: Harm Osmers (from Germany)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
Rangers: The goalkeeper, The defender, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, The midfielder, Diomande, The midfielder, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.
Braga: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, Niakate, The full-back, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.
Official: Allard Lindhout (Netherlands)
Preamble
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and historical connections. The both teams have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the continental championship decades past that links these clubs, with Britain's first £1m player the English forward scoring the winner of a rather dull championship game to clinch eternal glory for the the English club.
"Forest's famous bosses, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the revelry," commented the writer. Theirs has been an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to European football in three seasons."
One should note to consider Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Scandinavian side to advance to the ultimate game under English manager Bob Houghton.
The current fixture is a very different to that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are absolutely buzzing after thrashing Liverpool at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since 9 November following the end of the Swedish league season. The general expectation is on the Forest tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been defeated by a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the group stage with exactly zero. They badly want a victory if they are to have any hope of making a recovery for a knockout position.
Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the current standings from the earlier matches, including Villa vs Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
