Forest vs Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – Europa League Coverage
Match Coverage
Key Events
- Final whistle: Villa 2-1 Young Boys
- GOAL!: Joël Monteiro scores for Young Boys at 90+1
- Game over: Celtic 3-1 Feyenoord
- Lineups announced: Nottingham Forest v Malmö teams!
- Team news: Starting XI for Rangers vs Braga
- Preamble
Latest Standings
The opening scores strongly influence the league rankings. Celtic have moved up to the 17th spot and are back in the safety of knockout positions.
| Position | Side | Matches | GD | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys
Villa managed to hold on for the three points and became tied on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the peak of the group rankings. Villa had difficulty of that in the final stages.
Late Goal: Monteiro Scores
The Swiss side created a lifeline through Monteiro but had just stoppage time to find an equaliser!
Celtic Secure Victory
A memorable and crucial win for the Scottish team. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang, Hatate and Nygren.
Game Developments
The Birmingham side, concurrently, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at their home ground.
The Dutch forward's brace there caused dramatic events in the visitors' section, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Punches were thrown and items launched at both the officers and onto the pitch, with the player being struck in the head by a plastic cup.
Starting XI Revealed
The Reds: John Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.
The Swedish side: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, The center-back, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Referee: Harm Osmers (German)
Lineups: Rangers vs Braga
The Glasgow side: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, The midfielder, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Official: Allard Lindhout (Holland)
Preamble
The European clash and memories of 1979. The these sides have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's most recent continental tour in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the European Cup final decades past that links these clubs, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the red half of Nottingham.
"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," wrote the match reporter. This represented an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to continental competition in a short period."
One should note to pause a little on Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Nordic team to make the championship match under British coach Houghton.
This match is a far cry from that summit, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are absolutely buzzing after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since last month following the completion of Allsvenskan. The popular prediction 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 last place of the competition table at the middle of the initial phase with no points whatsoever. They desperately need 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 previous games, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.
