These early results have significant impact on the league rankings. Celtic have moved up to the 17th spot and regained position in the secure qualification spots.
| Pos | Team | Matches | Goal Difference | 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 became tied on points with front-runners Midtjylland at the summit of the competition table. The English side had difficulty of that in the final stages.
Young Boys gave themselves a hope through Monteiro but only have stoppage time to find an equaliser!
A significant and important win for the Celtic. Despite going 1-0 down, Celtic responded strongly with goals from Yang, the Japanese midfielder and Nygren.
Aston Villa, meanwhile, retained a 2-0 lead over Young Boys with approximately five minutes left at their home ground.
The Dutch forward's brace there caused dramatic events in the visitors' section, with Swiss fans confronting police. Scuffles broke out and objects thrown at both the officers and at the playing surface, with Malen himself being struck in the head by a throwable object.
The Reds: Victor, Abbott, Milenkovic, The defender, Morato, Yates, Sangare, Dominguez, McAtee, The winger, Kalimuendo.
Malmö: The goalkeeper, Stryger Larsen, The center-back, Duric, The full-back, The midfielder, The midfielder, Skogmar, Bolin, Gudjohnsen, Busanello.
Referee: Osmers (Germany)
The Light Blues: The goalkeeper, Tavernier, Fernandez, Djiga, The full-back, The midfielder, The midfielder, Raskin, Gassama, The forward, Chermiti.
The Arsenalistas: Hornicek, Gomez, Lagerbielke, Niakate, Arrey-Mbi, Zalazar, Joao Moutinho, Gorby, Martinez, The forward, The striker.
Official: Allard Lindhout (Netherlands)
Nottingham Forest v Malmö and past encounters. 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 continental championship 46 years ago that links these clubs, with the record-breaking signing the English forward heading the only goal of a pretty miserable final to secure historic victory for the Forest supporters.
"Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, unassuming and low-key amid all the colour and celebration, stood for a moment on a bench serenely viewing the mafficking," wrote the match reporter. Their achievement was an outstanding achievement that it is hard to see being repeated – from the lower league to European stage in just three years."
It's also interesting to consider Malmö, who became the first, and to date the last Nordic team to make the championship match under manager Houghton.
Tonight's game is a far cry from that pinnacle, closer perhaps to the previous continental meeting between Forest and Malmö in that era. Forest are full of confidence after defeating Liverpool convincingly at the famous ground on Saturday, while Malmö have been inactive since 9 November following the completion of Allsvenskan. The general expectation is on the English side tonight.
Numerous other matches on offer in this match tracking. Rangers have already been lost to a Braga this season. Rangers are at the foot of the competition table at the midpoint of the initial phase with no points whatsoever. They badly want a victory if they are to have any hope of making a recovery for a playoff spot.
Updates will continue with all nine of the 8pm kick-offs and provide the current standings from the earlier matches, including Villa vs Young Boys and Rotterdam vs Glasgow.
