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

Current Table

The opening scores strongly influence the competition standings. Celtic climbed to 17th place and regained position in the secure qualification spots.

Full-time: Aston Villa 2-1 Young Boys

Villa managed to hold on for the victory and went equal on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the peak of the group rankings. The Birmingham club struggled of that at the end.

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

The Swiss side created 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 Celtic. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, Hatate and the Swedish striker.

Match Updates

Aston Villa, meanwhile, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at their home ground.

Malen's double there caused dramatic events in the visitors' section, with Swiss fans clashing with police. Punches were thrown and objects thrown at both the authorities and onto the pitch, with the goalscorer being caught on the head by a plastic cup.

Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö

The Reds: Victor, The defender, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.

Malmö FF: Ellborg, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.

Referee: The German referee (German)

Team News: Rangers v Braga

The Light Blues: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, The defender, Aarons, The midfielder, The midfielder, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, The striker.

The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, Gomez, The center-back, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, Navarro, Horta.

Official: The Dutch referee (from Netherlands)

Preamble

The European clash and memories of 1979. The these sides have a historical link, also facing each other in Forest's most recent continental tour in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the premier competition final 46 years ago that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer Francis netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to clinch eternal glory for the red half of Nottingham.

"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. This represented an extraordinary accomplishment that it is hard to see being repeated – from Second Division to continental competition in three seasons."

It's also interesting to pause a little on Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Swedish club to advance to the ultimate game under British coach Houghton.

The current fixture is a far cry from that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the Uefa Cup first-round tie between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are riding high after thrashing Liverpool at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't played officially since early November following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The general expectation is on the English side tonight.

Numerous other matches on offer in this clockwatch. Rangers have already been defeated by a Braga this season. Rangers are at the foot of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the group stage with precisely zero points. They badly want a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a comeback for a qualification place.

We'll keep you up to date with all the late games and provide the latest scores from the previous games, including the Birmingham match and the Dutch-Scottish clash.