Forest vs Malmö, Rangers vs Braga, and Additional – Europa League Updates

Current Table

These early results strongly influence the league rankings. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and returned to the secure knockout positions.

Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys

The English side clung on for the victory and moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the peak of the competition table. Villa made hard work of that at the end.

Late Goal: Monteiro Scores

Young Boys gave themselves a hope through Monteiro but had just four more minutes to find an equaliser!

Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic

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

Game Developments

Aston Villa, concurrently, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.

The Dutch forward's brace there triggered intense reactions in the visitors' section, with Swiss fans clashing with police. Punches were thrown and items launched at both the officers and at the playing surface, with the player being caught on the head by a plastic cup.

Starting XI Revealed

The Reds: John Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.

The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.

Match official: Osmers (from Germany)

Team News: Rangers v Braga

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

Braga: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.

Referee: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)

Preamble

Nottingham Forest v Malmö and memories of 1979. The both teams have a special connection, also meeting in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the European Cup final 46 years ago that links these clubs, with the groundbreaking transfer the English forward netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to secure historic victory for the Forest supporters.

"The legendary management duo, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the celebrations," noted the journalist. This represented an remarkable feat that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to European stage in just three years."

One should note to reflect upon Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Swedish club to make the championship match under manager Houghton.

Tonight's game is a distant from that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are full of confidence after defeating Liverpool convincingly at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since last month following the end of the Swedish league season. The general expectation is on the English side tonight.

Plenty of other action on offer in this clockwatch. Rangers have already been defeated by a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the league phase with no points whatsoever. 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 the evening matches and provide the latest scores from the previous games, including the Birmingham match and the Dutch-Scottish clash.