Malmö vs Nottingham Forest, Rangers vs Braga, and More – Europa League News

Current Table

These early results greatly affect the competition standings. Celtic have moved up to the 17th spot and regained position in the safety of knockout positions.

Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys

Aston Villa secured for the victory and went equal on points with leaders Midtjylland at the peak of the group rankings. Villa made hard work of that in the final stages.

90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back

Young Boys earned a hope through Monteiro but were left with four more minutes to find an equaliser!

Celtic Secure Victory

A memorable and crucial win for the Celtic. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang, Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.

Match Updates

Villa, at the same time, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at their home ground.

Malen's double there caused dramatic events in the visitors' section, with Swiss fans engaging with police. Scuffles broke out and objects thrown at both the police and at the playing surface, with the player being struck in the head by a plastic cup.

Starting XI Revealed

The Reds: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, The defensive midfielder, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.

Malmö: The goalkeeper, Larsen, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, The striker.

Official: Osmers (from Germany)

Team News: Rangers v Braga

Rangers: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.

Braga: Hornicek, The defender, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, The forward, The striker.

Official: The Dutch referee (from Netherlands)

Historical Context

Forest vs Malmö and memories of 1979. The these sides have a historical link, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship from 1979 that connects these teams, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis netting the decisive goal of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory for the the English club.

"The legendary management duo, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the revelry," wrote the match reporter. Their achievement was 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 Scandinavian side to make the championship match under English manager Bob Houghton.

Tonight's game 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 defeating Liverpool convincingly at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since early November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The general expectation is on the Forest tonight.

Numerous other matches on offer in this live coverage. The Scottish side have already been lost to a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are last place of the competition table at the half-way stage of the initial phase with no points whatsoever. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a late surge for a playoff spot.

Updates will continue with all the late games and provide the current standings from the previous games, including the Birmingham match and the Dutch-Scottish clash.