The opening scores strongly influence the competition standings. Celtic climbed to the 17th spot and regained position in the safety of playoff places.
| Position | Club | P | Goal Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Villa managed to hold on for the win and went equal on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the peak of the league phase standings. Villa had difficulty of that at the end.
Young Boys gave themselves a chance through Monteiro but were left with four more minutes to score the leveler!
A significant and important win for the Celtic. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic roared back with goals from Yang Hyun-jun, Hatate and Nygren.
Villa, at the same time, maintained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with around five minutes left at their home ground.
Malen's second goal there triggered intense reactions in the visitors' section, with Swiss fans confronting police. Punches were thrown and objects thrown at both the police and toward the field, with Malen himself being caught on the head by a throwable object.
Nottingham Forest: Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, Hudson-Odoi, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: The goalkeeper, Stryger Larsen, Jansson, Duric, Rosler, Haksabanovic, Johnsen, Skogmar, The attacker, Gudjohnsen, The striker.
Official: The German referee (German)
The Glasgow side: The goalkeeper, The defender, Fernandez, The defender, Aarons, The midfielder, The midfielder, The midfielder, Gassama, Danilo, The striker.
The Portuguese side: The goalkeeper, The defender, The center-back, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, Navarro, Ricardo Horta.
Official: The Dutch referee (Netherlands)
Forest vs Malmö and historical connections. The both teams have a unique relationship, also facing each other in Forest's last European campaign in the UEFA Cup of 1995-96, but it is the continental championship decades past that entwines these two together, with Britain's first £1m player Trevor Francis scoring the winner of a rather dull championship game to secure historic victory for the the English club.
"The legendary management duo, unassuming and low-key amid all the festivities and cheers, stood for a moment on a bench quietly watching the revelry," commented the writer. Theirs has been an outstanding achievement that it is unlikely to be replicated – from second tier to European stage in three seasons."
One should note to pause a little on Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Nordic team to make the championship match under English manager Bob Houghton.
This match is a very different to that peak, closer perhaps to the earlier European encounter between Forest and Malmö in the mid-nineties. Forest are riding high after beating Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield on Saturday, while Malmö haven't kicked a competitive ball since last month following the conclusion of their domestic campaign. The popular prediction is on the home team tonight.
Plenty of other action on offer in this clockwatch. The Scottish side have already been lost to a Braga this season. Rangers are at the foot of the league rankings at the middle of the group stage with no points whatsoever. They desperately need a victory if they are to have any opportunity for a comeback for a knockout position.
Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the most recent results from the concluded fixtures, including the Birmingham match and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
Milan is een ervaren opticien met een passie voor visuele technologie en klantgerichtheid.
