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

League Position

These early results strongly influence the competition standings. Celtic have moved up to the 17th spot and returned to the safety of qualification spots.

Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1

Villa managed to hold on for the three points and became tied on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the top of the group rankings. The Birmingham club had difficulty of that during the closing minutes.

Late Goal: Monteiro Scores

Young Boys gave themselves 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 Glasgow side. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Hatate and Nygren.

Match Updates

Villa, concurrently, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at their home ground.

Malen's double there caused dramatic events in the visitors' section, with Young Boys supporters engaging with police. Physical altercations occurred and projectiles hurled at both the authorities and toward the field, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a plastic cup.

Lineups: Forest vs Malmö

Forest: The goalkeeper, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.

Malmö: Ellborg, The defender, The center-back, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, The striker.

Referee: Harm Osmers (German)

Team News: Rangers v Braga

The Glasgow side: Butland, Tavernier, Fernandez, The defender, Aarons, The midfielder, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.

The Portuguese side: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, The full-back, The midfielder, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, The striker.

Referee: Lindhout (Holland)

Historical Context

Nottingham Forest v Malmö and memories of 1979. The these sides have a special connection, also meeting in Forest's previous European adventure in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, but it is the European Cup final from 1979 that connects these teams, with the groundbreaking transfer the English forward netting the decisive goal of a rather dull championship game to secure historic victory for the Forest supporters.

"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, grey-sweatered and anonymous amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench calmly observing the mafficking," wrote the match reporter. Theirs has been an outstanding achievement that it is difficult to imagine happening again – from second tier to European stage in just three years."

One should note to pause a little on Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Scandinavian side to reach the final under manager Houghton.

This match is a far cry from that peak, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are full of confidence after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since last month following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The general expectation is on the English side tonight.

Numerous other matches on offer in this live coverage. Rangers have already been defeated by a Portuguese opponent this season. Rangers are last place of the competition table at the midpoint of the initial phase with precisely zero points. They urgently require a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a knockout position.

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