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

League Position

These early results strongly influence the league rankings. The Glasgow side rose to 17th position and are back in the protected qualification spots.

Final Score: Aston Villa 2-1

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

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

Young Boys gave themselves a chance through Monteiro but were left with four more minutes to get the tying goal!

Full-time: Feyenoord 1-3 Celtic

A significant and important win for the Celtic. Although they went 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Reo Hatate and the Swedish striker.

Match Updates

The Birmingham side, at the same time, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at the stadium.

The Dutch forward's brace there sparked furious scenes in the away end, with Swiss fans confronting police. Punches were thrown and objects thrown at both the authorities and onto the pitch, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a plastic cup.

Starting XI Revealed

Forest: Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, Murillo, Morato, The midfielder, Sangare, Dominguez, The attacker, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.

Malmö: Ellborg, Larsen, Jansson, Duric, The full-back, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, The midfielder, Bolin, The forward, The striker.

Match official: Harm Osmers (from Germany)

Starting Players

The Light Blues: The goalkeeper, The defender, Fernandez, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, The attacker, The forward, The striker.

Braga: The goalkeeper, Gomez, Lagerbielke, The defender, The full-back, The midfielder, The experienced midfielder, The midfielder, Martinez, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.

Match official: Allard Lindhout (from Netherlands)

Historical Context

Forest vs Malmö and historical connections. The two clubs have a special connection, also competing in Forest's last European campaign in the mid-90s European competition, but it is the premier competition final decades past that links these clubs, with Britain's first £1m player Francis heading the only goal of a largely forgettable match to claim legendary status for the the English club.

"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, modestly dressed amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the celebrations," commented the writer. Their achievement was an remarkable feat that it is unlikely to be replicated – from Second Division to European stage in three seasons."

One should note to pause a little on Malmö, who became the pioneering and only Nordic team to reach the final under British coach Houghton.

The current fixture is a far cry from that summit, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in 1995-96. Forest are absolutely buzzing after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Liverpool's home on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since 9 November following the end of the Swedish league season. The popular prediction is on the English side tonight.

Plenty of other action on offer in this live coverage. The Glasgow club have already been defeated by a European rival this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the 36-team Europa League standings at the midpoint of the league phase with precisely zero points. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any chance of achieving a recovery for a qualification place.

Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the latest scores from the previous games, including the Birmingham match and the Dutch-Scottish clash.