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

Current Table

The initial outcomes have significant impact on the competition standings. Celtic climbed to 17th place and are back in the protected knockout positions.

Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys

The English side clung on for the three points and became tied on points with leaders Midtjylland at the summit of the group rankings. Villa had difficulty of that at the end.

90+1: Monteiro Pulls One Back

The Swiss side created a hope through Monteiro but had just four more minutes to get the tying goal!

Celtic Secure Victory

A memorable and crucial win for the Scottish team. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, the Japanese midfielder and Benjamin Nygren.

Game Developments

The Birmingham side, at the same time, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at Villa Park.

Malen's second goal there caused dramatic events in the visitors' section, with Young Boys supporters clashing with police. Punches were thrown and items launched at both the authorities and onto the pitch, with Malen himself being hit on the head by a plastic cup.

Lineups: Forest vs Malmö

The Reds: Victor, Abbott, The center-back, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.

The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, The defender, Jansson, The defender, Rosler, The midfielder, Johnsen, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.

Official: Harm Osmers (Germany)

Starting Players

The Glasgow side: The goalkeeper, The defender, Fernandez, The defender, The full-back, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.

Braga: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Joao Moutinho, The midfielder, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.

Match official: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)

Preamble

The European clash and historical connections. The these sides have a historical link, also facing each other in Forest's most recent continental tour in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the European Cup final from 1979 that connects these teams, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a rather dull championship game to clinch eternal glory for the red half of Nottingham.

"Forest's famous bosses, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the celebrations," noted the journalist. This represented an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from the lower league to European football in a short period."

One should note to pause a little on Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Nordic team to make the championship match under English manager Bob Houghton.

This match is a very different to that peak, 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 played officially since early November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The general expectation is on the English side tonight.

Additional games on offer in this match tracking. The Scottish side have already been lost to a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are last place of the competition table at the half-way stage of the group stage with exactly zero. They badly want a victory if they are to have any hope of making a recovery for a playoff spot.

Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the current standings from the concluded fixtures, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.