Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – UEFA Europa League Coverage

Match Coverage

Important Updates

  • Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
  • GOAL!: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
  • Match concluded: Feyenoord defeated 1-3 by Celtic
  • Starting XI: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
  • Lineups revealed: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
  • Preamble

League Position

The opening scores strongly influence the Europa League table. Celtic climbed to the 17th spot and returned to the secure qualification spots.

Rank Club P GD Pts
1Midtjylland5712
2Aston Villa5512
3Freiburg5511
4Ferencvaros5411
5FC Porto5310
17Celtic5-17
25Nottm Forest415
35Rangers4-70
33Malmo FF4-51

Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1

Aston Villa secured for the victory and moved level on points with leaders Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. Villa had difficulty of that at the end.

Late Goal: Monteiro Scores

The Swiss side created a lifeline through Monteiro but only have stoppage time to find an equaliser!

Celtic Secure Victory

A famous and valuable win for the Celtic. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang, the Japanese midfielder and Benjamin Nygren.

Match Updates

Villa, at the same time, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at the stadium.

Malen's second goal there triggered intense reactions in the away end, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Punches were thrown and projectiles hurled at both the officers and at the playing surface, with Malen himself being hit on the head by a throwable object.

Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö

Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, The full-back, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, Kalimuendo.

Malmö: Ellborg, Larsen, Jansson, Duric, The full-back, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, The forward, Busanello.

Official: The German referee (from Germany)

Team News: Rangers v Braga

The Glasgow side: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, The midfielder, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, The forward, Chermiti.

Braga: Hornicek, The defender, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Horta.

Match official: The Dutch referee (Netherlands)

Historical Context

Forest vs Malmö and memories of 1979. The these sides have a unique relationship, also meeting in Forest's last European campaign in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship from 1979 that links these clubs, with the groundbreaking transfer Francis netting the decisive goal of a largely forgettable match to claim legendary status for the red half of Nottingham.

"The legendary management duo, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the celebrations," commented the writer. Their achievement was an remarkable feat that it is hard to see being repeated – from the lower league to European stage in three seasons."

It's also interesting to pause a little on Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Swedish club to reach the final under British coach Houghton.

Tonight's game is a distant from that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are full of confidence after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since early 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 live coverage. Rangers have already been lost to a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the league rankings at the midpoint of the initial phase with exactly zero. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a comeback for a qualification place.

Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the current standings from the earlier matches, including Villa vs Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.

Dana Taylor
Dana Taylor

Financial writer with over a decade of experience in personal finance and loan consulting.