Nottingham Forest v Malmö, Rangers v Braga, and Additional – Europa League News

Current Table

The initial outcomes have significant impact on the league rankings. Celtic climbed to 17th position and regained position in the secure playoff places.

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 competition table. The Birmingham club had difficulty of that in the final stages.

Late Goal: Monteiro Scores

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

Glasgow Side Wins 3-1

A significant and important win for the Glasgow side. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.

Game Developments

The Birmingham side, at the same time, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at Villa Park.

Malen's second goal there caused dramatic events in the opposition stands, with Young Boys supporters engaging with police. Punches were thrown and objects thrown at both the police and toward the field, with the goalscorer being caught on the head by a throwable object.

Starting XI Revealed

Forest: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.

The Swedish side: Ellborg, The defender, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.

Official: Osmers (Germany)

Starting Players

Rangers: Butland, The defender, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.

Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.

Official: Lindhout (Holland)

Historical Context

Forest vs Malmö and historical connections. The these sides have a special connection, also competing in Forest's last European campaign in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship 46 years ago that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer Trevor Francis netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to secure historic victory for the red half of Nottingham.

"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the celebrations," commented the writer. This represented an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from the lower league to European football in a short period."

One should note to reflect upon Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Scandinavian side to advance to the ultimate game under manager Houghton.

The current fixture is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are absolutely buzzing after thrashing Liverpool at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the end of the Swedish league season. The popular prediction is on the Forest tonight.

Additional games on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been beaten by a Braga this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the group stage with precisely zero points. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a late surge for a knockout position.

We'll keep you up to date with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the current standings from the concluded fixtures, including Villa vs Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.