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

Current Table

These early results have significant impact on the league rankings. Celtic have moved up to 17th position and returned to the secure playoff places.

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 summit of the league phase standings. The English side made hard work of that at the end.

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

Young Boys gave themselves a hope through Monteiro but were left with stoppage time to get the tying goal!

Celtic Secure Victory

A significant and important win for the Scottish team. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from the Korean forward, Hatate and Benjamin Nygren.

Match Updates

Villa, concurrently, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at Villa Park.

The Dutch forward's brace there triggered intense reactions in the visitors' section, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Punches were thrown and items launched at both the officers and toward the field, with Malen himself being caught on the head by a throwable object.

Lineups: Forest vs Malmö

The Reds: John Victor, Abbott, The center-back, Murillo, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, The midfielder, The attacker, The winger, Kalimuendo.

The Swedish side: Ellborg, The defender, The center-back, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, The midfielder, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, The striker.

Referee: The German referee (from Germany)

Team News: Rangers v Braga

The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, The center-back, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, Raskin, The attacker, Danilo, Chermiti.

The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, The full-back, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, Ricardo Horta.

Referee: The Dutch referee (Holland)

Match Background

Nottingham Forest v Malmö and memories of 1979. The these sides have a unique relationship, also facing each other in Forest's most recent continental tour in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the continental championship from 1979 that entwines these two together, with the groundbreaking transfer Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a largely forgettable match to clinch eternal glory for the Forest supporters.

"The legendary management duo, modestly dressed amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the mafficking," commented the writer. Theirs has been an remarkable feat that it is hard to see being repeated – from second tier to continental competition in three seasons."

It's also interesting to consider Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Nordic team to advance to the ultimate game under British coach Houghton.

Tonight's game is a distant from that summit, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are full of confidence after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since early November following the end of the Swedish league season. The popular prediction is on the English side tonight.

Additional games on offer in this clockwatch. Rangers have already been defeated by a Braga this season. Rangers are last place of the 36-team Europa League standings at the half-way stage of the league phase with exactly zero. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a playoff spot.

We'll keep you up to date with all the evening matches and provide the current standings from the concluded fixtures, including Villa vs Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.