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

League Position

These early results strongly influence the competition standings. Celtic climbed to the 17th spot and returned to the safety of qualification spots.

Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys

The English side clung on for the victory and moved level on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the peak of the group rankings. The English side struggled of that at the end.

90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back

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

Celtic Secure Victory

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

Latest Action

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

The Dutch forward's brace there caused dramatic events in the opposition stands, with Young Boys supporters clashing with police. Scuffles broke out and projectiles hurled at both the authorities and at the playing surface, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a throwable object.

Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö

Forest: John Victor, The defender, The center-back, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, The midfielder, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.

Malmö FF: Ellborg, The defender, Jansson, The defender, The full-back, The midfielder, Johnsen, The midfielder, Bolin, The forward, Busanello.

Referee: Harm Osmers (from Germany)

Starting Players

The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, The forward, Chermiti.

The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.

Referee: The Dutch referee (Netherlands)

Preamble

Nottingham Forest v Malmö and historical connections. The these sides have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship decades past that links these clubs, with Britain's first £1m player the English forward heading the only goal of a largely forgettable match to clinch eternal glory for the red half of Nottingham.

"Forest's famous bosses, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the mafficking," commented the writer. Their achievement was an extraordinary accomplishment that it is unlikely to be replicated – from second tier to European stage in a short period."

It's also interesting to pause a little on Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Nordic team to reach the final under manager Houghton.

Tonight's game is a far cry from that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are riding high after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since early November following the end of the Swedish league season. The smart money is on the Forest tonight.

Numerous other matches on offer in this clockwatch. The Scottish side have already been beaten by a Braga this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the competition table at the half-way stage of the league phase with precisely zero points. They badly want a victory if they are to have any hope of making a recovery for a qualification place.

Coverage will persist with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the most recent results from the previous games, including Villa vs Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.