Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers v Braga, and More – Europa League News
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Key Events
- Final whistle: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Match concluded: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Lineups announced: Starting players for Forest vs Malmö
- Lineups revealed: Rangers and Braga lineups
- Preamble
League Position
The opening scores have significant impact on the competition standings. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and are back in the safety of knockout positions.
| Pos | Club | Played | 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 |
Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
The English side clung on for the three points and went equal on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the league phase standings. Villa struggled of that in the final stages.
90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back
Young Boys gave themselves a hope through Monteiro but were left with stoppage time to get the tying goal!
Celtic Secure Victory
A famous and valuable win for the Celtic. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang, Reo Hatate and the Swedish striker.
Match Updates
Aston Villa, at the same time, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at the stadium.
The Dutch forward's brace there caused dramatic events in the visitors' section, with visiting fans confronting police. Punches were thrown and items launched at both the officers and at the playing surface, with the goalscorer being caught on the head by a plastic cup.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Nottingham Forest: Victor, The defender, The center-back, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, The midfielder, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
The Swedish side: Ellborg, Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, The midfielder, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Match official: Osmers (from Germany)
Starting Players
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, The striker.
The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, Gomez, The center-back, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Horta.
Match official: The Dutch referee (from Netherlands)
Preamble
The European clash and memories of 1979. The these sides have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's last European campaign in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the European Cup final from 1979 that entwines these two together, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the Forest supporters.
"Forest's famous bosses, modestly dressed amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the revelry," commented the writer. This represented an extraordinary accomplishment that it is unlikely to be replicated – from the lower league to continental competition in three seasons."
One should note to pause a little on Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Nordic team to advance to the ultimate game under English manager Bob Houghton.
The current fixture is a far cry from that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are absolutely buzzing after thrashing Liverpool at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The popular prediction is on the Forest tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this clockwatch. Rangers have already been lost to a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the competition table at the midpoint of the league phase with no points whatsoever. They badly want a victory if they are to have any hope of making a late surge for a qualification place.
We'll keep you up to date with all the evening matches and provide the most recent results from the earlier matches, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
