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

League Position

The opening scores strongly influence the league rankings. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and regained position in the protected knockout positions.

Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1

Villa managed to hold on for the three points and went equal on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the peak of the competition table. The Birmingham club struggled of that during the closing minutes.

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

The Swiss side created a chance through Monteiro but had just stoppage time to get the tying goal!

Glasgow Side Wins 3-1

A significant and important win for the Glasgow side. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Reo Hatate and Nygren.

Game Developments

Villa, concurrently, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at the stadium.

The Dutch forward's brace there triggered intense reactions in the visitors' section, with Young Boys supporters clashing with police. Scuffles broke out and items launched at both the police and toward the field, with the player being hit on the head by a drinking vessel.

Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö

Forest: John Victor, Abbott, The center-back, Murillo, Morato, The midfielder, The defensive midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.

Malmö: Ellborg, The defender, Jansson, The defender, The full-back, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, The midfielder, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.

Official: Osmers (from Germany)

Team News: Rangers v Braga

The Light Blues: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.

The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, The defender, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Ricardo Horta.

Match official: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)

Historical Context

Forest vs Malmö and past encounters. The two clubs have a historical link, also facing each other in Forest's last European campaign in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the European Cup final from 1979 that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer Francis scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to clinch eternal glory for the Forest supporters.

"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, unassuming and low-key amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the celebrations," wrote the match reporter. Theirs has been an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to European stage in a short period."

Worth mentioning to consider Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Scandinavian side to make the championship match 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 the mid-nineties. Forest are riding high after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The general expectation is on the home team tonight.

Numerous other matches on offer in this clockwatch. The Glasgow club have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are last place of the league rankings at the middle of the group stage with exactly zero. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a qualification place.

Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the most recent results from the previous games, including Villa vs Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.