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

League Position

These early results strongly influence the league rankings. The Glasgow side rose to 17th position and are back in the safety of knockout positions.

Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys

Villa managed to hold on for the three points and moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the peak of the league phase standings. The Birmingham club made hard work of that during the closing minutes.

Late Goal: Monteiro Scores

The Swiss side created a lifeline through Monteiro but were left with four more minutes to find an equaliser!

Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic

A memorable and crucial win for the Glasgow side. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and the Swedish striker.

Game Developments

The Birmingham side, at the same time, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at their home ground.

Malen's double there triggered intense reactions in the away end, with Swiss fans confronting police. Physical altercations occurred and projectiles hurled at both the officers and at the playing surface, with the player being struck in the head by a throwable object.

Starting XI Revealed

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

Malmö FF: Ellborg, The defender, Jansson, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.

Referee: The German referee (Germany)

Team News: Rangers v Braga

The Light Blues: The goalkeeper, The defender, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, Barron, The midfielder, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.

The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, The full-back, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.

Referee: The Dutch referee (from Netherlands)

Preamble

The European clash and historical connections. The two clubs have a historical link, also meeting in Forest's most recent continental tour in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the European Cup final 46 years ago that links these clubs, with the record-breaking signing Francis netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to claim legendary status 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 quietly watching the mafficking," commented the writer. This represented an remarkable feat that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from second tier to European football in just three years."

One should note to pause a little on Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Scandinavian side to advance to the ultimate game under manager Houghton.

Tonight's game is a distant from that summit, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are riding high after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The smart money is on the English side 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 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the group stage with no points whatsoever. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a late surge for a qualification place.

Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the current standings from the previous games, including Villa vs Young Boys and the Dutch-Scottish clash.