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

Current Table

The opening scores strongly influence the Europa League table. The Glasgow side rose to 17th place and returned to the safety of playoff places.

Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys

Villa managed to hold on for the three points and went equal on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the peak of the league phase standings. The English side made hard work of that in the final stages.

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

Young Boys earned a lifeline through Monteiro but only have stoppage time to get the tying goal!

Glasgow Side Wins 3-1

A significant and important win for the Scottish team. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang, the Japanese midfielder and Benjamin Nygren.

Game Developments

Aston Villa, at the same time, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at the stadium.

The Dutch forward's brace there caused dramatic events in the visitors' section, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Punches were thrown and objects thrown at both the police and toward the field, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a throwable object.

Lineups: Forest vs Malmö

Nottingham Forest: Victor, The defender, Milenkovic, Murillo, The full-back, Yates, The defensive midfielder, The midfielder, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.

Malmö FF: The goalkeeper, The defender, Jansson, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.

Referee: The German referee (German)

Team News: Rangers v Braga

The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, The center-back, The defender, Aarons, Barron, The midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, Danilo, The striker.

The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, The defender, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, Navarro, The striker.

Referee: Allard Lindhout (Holland)

Match Background

The European clash and past encounters. The two clubs have a special connection, also meeting in Forest's last European campaign in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the premier competition final from 1979 that entwines these two together, with Britain's first £1m player the English forward netting the decisive goal of a pretty miserable final to claim legendary status for the red half of Nottingham.

"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the celebrations," commented the writer. 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 first, and to date the last Scandinavian side to make the championship match under British coach Houghton.

The current fixture is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are riding high after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the end of the Swedish league season. The smart money is on the Forest tonight.

Numerous other matches on offer in this live coverage. Rangers have already been beaten by a Braga this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the competition table at the middle of the group stage with no points whatsoever. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a late surge for a knockout position.

Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the current standings from the earlier matches, including Aston Villa v Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.