These early results have significant impact on the Europa League table. Celtic climbed to 17th place and are back in the secure qualification spots.
| Position | Club | Matches | GD | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Midtjylland | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 5 | 5 | 12 |
| 3 | Freiburg | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 4 | Ferencvaros | 5 | 4 | 11 |
| 5 | FC Porto | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 17 | Celtic | 5 | -1 | 7 |
| 25 | Nottm Forest | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 35 | Rangers | 4 | -7 | 0 |
| 33 | Malmo FF | 4 | -5 | 1 |
Aston Villa secured for the win and moved level on points with leaders Midtjylland at the peak of the competition table. The English side made hard work of that at the end.
Young Boys earned a chance through Monteiro but only have stoppage time to get the tying goal!
A famous and valuable win for the Celtic. Even after falling 1-0 down, Celtic fought back with goals from Yang, the Japanese midfielder and Nygren.
Aston Villa, concurrently, held onto a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with roughly 300 seconds left at the stadium.
Malen's double there sparked furious scenes in the away end, with Young Boys supporters clashing with police. Punches were thrown and objects thrown at both the authorities and at the playing surface, with Malen himself being caught on the head by a throwable object.
The Reds: The goalkeeper, The defender, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: Ellborg, The defender, The center-back, The defender, The full-back, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, The midfielder, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Official: Osmers (German)
The Light Blues: Butland, The defender, The center-back, Djiga, Aarons, Barron, Diomande, Raskin, Gassama, Danilo, Chermiti.
The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, Gomez, The center-back, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, The midfielder, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, The striker.
Official: The Dutch referee (Holland)
The European clash and past encounters. The these sides have a historical link, also competing in Forest's previous European adventure in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the premier competition final decades past that entwines these two together, with Britain's first £1m player Francis heading the only goal of a largely forgettable match to claim legendary status for the Forest supporters.
"The legendary management duo, unassuming and low-key amid all the excitement and joy, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the revelry," noted the journalist. Theirs has been an outstanding achievement that it is unlikely to be replicated – from Second Division to continental competition in three seasons."
Worth mentioning to consider Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Swedish club to reach the final under English manager Bob Houghton.
Tonight's game is a distant from that peak, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are riding high after defeating Liverpool convincingly at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since last month following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The general expectation is on the Forest tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this match tracking. The Glasgow club have already been beaten by a European rival this season. Rangers are rock bottom of the 36-team Europa League standings at the half-way stage of the initial phase with exactly zero. They badly want a victory if they are to have any hope of making a comeback for a qualification place.
Updates will continue with all the evening matches and provide the most recent results from the previous games, including Villa vs Young Boys and Feyenoord v Celtic.
Elena is a freelance writer and mindfulness coach who loves exploring the power of positive thinking.