Forest vs Malmö, Rangers vs Braga, and Additional – UEFA Europa League News
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Key Events
- Match ended: Young Boys 1-2 Aston Villa
- Score!: Late goal from Monteiro makes it 2-1
- Full-time: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Starting XI: Forest and Malmö lineups
- Lineups revealed: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Preamble
League Position
The opening scores have significant impact on the league rankings. Celtic climbed to 17th place and regained position in the protected playoff places.
| Position | Side | P | 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 |
Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1
Villa managed to hold on for the victory and went equal on points with leaders Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. The Birmingham club made hard work of that in the final stages.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)
The Swiss side created a lifeline through Monteiro but were left with four more minutes to score the leveler!
Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic
A famous and valuable win for the Glasgow side. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.
Game Developments
Villa, concurrently, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at the stadium.
Malen's double there caused dramatic events in the away end, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Scuffles broke out and items launched at both the police and at the playing surface, with the player being caught on the head by a drinking vessel.
Lineups: Forest vs Malmö
Nottingham Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, The defender, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Official: The German referee (Germany)
Starting Players
The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, The defender, The full-back, The midfielder, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, The striker.
The Portuguese side: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, The midfielder, Joao Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, The forward, The striker.
Match official: Allard Lindhout (Holland)
Historical Context
The European clash and historical connections. The both teams have a special connection, also competing in Forest's most recent continental tour in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the continental championship from 1979 that links these clubs, with the groundbreaking transfer the English forward netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to claim legendary status for the red half of Nottingham.
"The legendary management duo, modestly dressed amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the revelry," wrote the match reporter. This represented an remarkable feat that it is hard to see being repeated – from the lower league to European stage in three seasons."
One should note to reflect upon Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Nordic team to reach the final under manager Houghton.
Tonight's game is a very different to 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 Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The general expectation is on the home team tonight.
Additional games on offer in this clockwatch. The Scottish side have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the league rankings at the half-way stage of the initial phase with precisely zero points. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a playoff spot.
We'll keep you up to date with all the evening matches and provide the current standings from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
