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

League Position

These early results greatly affect the league rankings. Celtic climbed to 17th position and are back in the protected qualification spots.

Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys

Villa managed to hold on for the three points and went equal on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the group rankings. Villa had difficulty of that at the end.

GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys (Joël Monteiro 90+1)

Young Boys gave themselves a lifeline through Monteiro but had just four more minutes to get the tying goal!

Celtic Secure Victory

A famous and valuable win for the Scottish team. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, the Japanese midfielder and the Swedish striker.

Latest Action

Aston Villa, concurrently, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at Villa Park.

Malen's second goal there sparked furious scenes in the visitors' section, with visiting fans engaging with police. Punches were thrown and objects thrown at both the officers and at the playing surface, with the player being struck in the head by a drinking vessel.

Starting XI Revealed

The Reds: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, The midfielder, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.

Malmö FF: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, Duric, The full-back, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, The attacker, The forward, Busanello.

Official: Harm Osmers (from Germany)

Lineups: Rangers vs Braga

Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, The midfielder, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.

The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, The striker.

Referee: Lindhout (Holland)

Historical Context

Forest vs Malmö and past encounters. The two clubs have a unique relationship, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the premier competition final 46 years ago that links these clubs, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory for the Forest supporters.

"The legendary management duo, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the revelry," wrote the match reporter. This represented an remarkable feat that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from Second Division to European stage in a short period."

One should note to consider Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Nordic team to make the championship match under British coach Houghton.

This match is a distant from that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are full of confidence after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the end of the Swedish league season. The smart money is on the English side tonight.

Plenty of other action on offer in this clockwatch. The Scottish side have already been defeated by a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are at the foot of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the group stage with exactly zero. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a late surge for a knockout position.

Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the latest scores from the concluded fixtures, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.