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

Current Table

The initial outcomes have significant impact on the competition standings. Celtic have moved up to the 17th spot and are back in the safety of playoff places.

Match Result: Villa 2-1 Young Boys

Aston Villa secured for the victory and went equal on points with table-toppers Midtjylland at the summit of the league phase standings. Villa struggled of that in the final stages.

Late Goal: Monteiro Scores

Young Boys earned a hope through Monteiro but were left with four more minutes to find an equaliser!

Celtic Secure Victory

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

Game Developments

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

Malen's double there triggered intense reactions in the away end, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Scuffles broke out and objects thrown at both the police and at the playing surface, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a throwable object.

Starting XI Revealed

The Reds: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, The full-back, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, The striker.

The Swedish side: The goalkeeper, Larsen, The center-back, The defender, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, The midfielder, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.

Official: The German referee (German)

Starting Players

Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, The center-back, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.

The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, Gomez, The center-back, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, The attacker, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.

Official: Lindhout (Netherlands)

Preamble

The European clash and historical connections. The both teams have a special connection, also facing each other in Forest's most recent continental tour in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the continental championship decades past that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer the English forward scoring the winner of a pretty miserable final to clinch eternal glory for the the English club.

"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the revelry," wrote the match reporter. Theirs has been an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from Second Division to European stage in a short period."

It's also interesting to pause a little on Malmö, who became the initial and final Scandinavian side to reach the final under manager Houghton.

This match is a distant from that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are riding high after thrashing Liverpool at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The general expectation is on the Forest tonight.

Plenty of other action on offer in this live coverage. Rangers have already been lost to a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are at the foot of the league rankings at the half-way stage of the group stage with precisely zero points. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a late surge for a playoff spot.

Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the latest scores from the concluded fixtures, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.