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

League Position

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

Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1

Aston Villa secured for the victory and moved level on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the competition table. The Birmingham club had difficulty of that during the closing minutes.

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

Young Boys gave themselves a lifeline through Monteiro but had just stoppage time to score the leveler!

Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic

A memorable and crucial win for the Glasgow side. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from the Korean forward, Reo Hatate and the Swedish striker.

Match Updates

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

Malen's second goal there sparked furious scenes in the visitors' section, with Young Boys supporters confronting police. Physical altercations occurred and objects thrown at both the police and onto the pitch, with the player being hit on the head by a drinking vessel.

Team News: Nottingham Forest v Malmö

Nottingham Forest: Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, Kalimuendo.

Malmö FF: Ellborg, Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, The midfielder, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.

Referee: Harm Osmers (German)

Lineups: Rangers vs Braga

The Light Blues: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, The midfielder, The midfielder, The midfielder, The attacker, Danilo, The striker.

The Portuguese side: Hornicek, Gomez, The center-back, Niakate, The full-back, Zalazar, The experienced midfielder, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.

Official: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)

Preamble

Forest vs Malmö and memories of 1979. The both teams have a historical link, also facing each other in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the premier competition final from 1979 that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer the English forward netting the decisive goal of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory 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 serenely viewing the mafficking," commented the writer. Theirs has been an extraordinary accomplishment that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from second tier to European stage in a short period."

It's also interesting to reflect upon Malmö, who became the initial and final Swedish club to make the championship match under English manager Bob Houghton.

This match is a very different to that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are riding high after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since early November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The smart money is on the home team tonight.

Plenty of other action on offer in this clockwatch. Rangers have already been defeated by a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are at the foot of the competition table at the middle of the initial phase with no points whatsoever. They badly want a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a playoff spot.

Coverage will persist with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the current standings from the previous games, including Villa vs Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.