Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Braga vs Rangers, and Additional – UEFA Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Important Updates
- Match ended: Aston 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 and Braga lineups
- Introduction
League Position
The initial outcomes greatly affect the competition standings. Celtic have moved up to 17th place and are back in the safety of knockout positions.
| Position | Club | Matches | 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
Aston Villa secured for the win and went equal on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the summit of the group rankings. The English side had difficulty of that at the end.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
Young Boys gave themselves a chance through Monteiro but were left with stoppage time to get the tying goal!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A famous and valuable win for the Celtic. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from the Korean forward, Hatate and Nygren.
Match Updates
The Birmingham side, at the same time, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at the stadium.
Malen's double there caused dramatic events in the opposition stands, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Physical altercations occurred and projectiles hurled at both the officers and onto the pitch, with Malen himself being caught on the head by a drinking vessel.
Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö
Forest: John Victor, Abbott, The center-back, Murillo, The full-back, The midfielder, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
The Swedish side: Ellborg, The defender, Jansson, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Match official: Harm Osmers (German)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Glasgow side: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, The midfielder, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, Gomez, The center-back, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, Horta.
Official: The Dutch referee (Holland)
Historical Context
The European clash and past encounters. The these sides have a special connection, also meeting in Forest's most recent continental tour in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the continental championship decades past that connects these teams, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis heading the only goal of a rather dull championship game to clinch eternal glory for the red half of Nottingham.
"Forest's famous bosses, unassuming and low-key amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the celebrations," wrote the match reporter. Theirs has been an outstanding achievement that it is unlikely to be replicated – from second tier to European stage in just three years."
One should note to consider Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Swedish club to reach the final under manager Houghton.
This match is a far cry from that summit, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are full of confidence after thrashing Liverpool at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since last month following the end of the Swedish league season. The smart money is on the English side tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this live coverage. The Glasgow club have already been beaten by a Portuguese opponent 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 chance of achieving a recovery for a playoff spot.
Coverage will persist with all the evening matches and provide the current standings from the previous games, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
