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GOAL! Sturm Graz 2-1 Rangers (Gassama 47′)
A lifeline for Rangers in Austria as Djeidi Gassama cuts inside two defenders and smashes home at the near post. The away fans – many of whom are holding banners with Russell Martin’s face crossed out – celebrate tentatively.
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“Why are there so many more British and Irish players playing in Europe these days?” asks John Brennan. “By my reckoning the following continental teams have someone in their squad tonight: Bologna, Fenerbahce, Roma, Ferencvaros, Lyon, Dinamo Zagreb & Strasbourg. When did this start happening?”
It’s what I’m minded to call the Jude Bellingham effect – as the Premier League’s financial domination has continued to grow, more players in the UK and Ireland can see a clearer path to first-team football – and possible international recognition – by moving overseas. It’s broadly a positive thing, I would venture.
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Conference League half-times:
Aberdeen 1-1 Shakhtar Donetsk
AEK Larnaca 1-0 AZ Alkmaar
Celje 1-1 AEK Athens
Fiorentina 1-0 Sigma Olomouc
Legia Warsaw 0-1 Samsunspor
Rakow 0-0 Univ. Craiova
Shelbourne 0-0 Häcken
Slovan Bratislava 0-2 Strasbourg
Sparta Prague 2-0 Shamrock Rovers
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Half time: Aberdeen 1-1 Shakhtar Donetsk
All square at the break, Jesper Karlsson’s early penalty cancelled out by Yehor Nazaryna near the end of the first half.
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Europa League half-times:
Basel 1-0 Stuttgart
Celta Vigo 1-1 PAOK
Porto 1-1 Red Star
Feyenoord 0-0 Aston Villa
Genk 0-1 Ferencvaros
Lyon 1-0 Salzburg
Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-2 Dinamo Zagreb
Nottingham Forest 1-2 Midtjylland
Sturm Graz 2-0 Rangers
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Half time: Feyenoord 0-0 Aston Villa
Compared to messrs Martin and Postecoglou, Unai Emery is on easy street – but that could all change if Villa concede. Robin van Persie’s Feyenoord could have been down to 10 men, but have grown into the game.
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Half time: Nottm Forest 1-2 Midtjylland
Ah look mate, it’s not going well is it? There are scattered boos around the City Ground as Forest go in behind, with Midtjylland scoring twice from set pieces and looking the better side as the half progressed.
Maaate! Photograph: Ed Sykes/Apl/SportsphotoShare
Updated at 22.00 CEST
Half time: Sturm Graz 2-0 Rangers
“So far, Rangers have not done a great job weathering the Sturm,” notes Peter Oh. Russell Martin’s side trail 2-0 in Graz. Will their much-maligned manager be put out to pasture?
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Updated at 22.12 CEST
There are brief but audible cries of “you don’t know what you’re doing” from the Forest fans as the hosts struggle to regain a foothold. Hudson-Odoi’s hopeful shot is blocked by Diao as we enter three minutes of stoppage time.
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GOAL! Aberdeen 1-1 Shakhtar Donetsk (Nazaryna 39′)
Shakhtar are level at Pittodrie, midfielder Yehor Nazaryna finishing nicely from Pedrinho da Silva’s cross. Shakhtar have two players called Pedrinho in their team tonight, by the way.
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GOAL! Sturm Graz 2-0 Rangers (Kiteishvili 36′)
Rangers go two down and it’s an utterly rubbish goal to concede. From a free kick, a low pass forward exposes a needlessly high line, allowint Kiteishvili to stroll through and lift the ball over Butland.
Otar Kiteishvili beats Jack Butland to pile on the misery for Rangers. Photograph: Christian Bruna/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 21.44 CEST
Apparently the VAR screens aren’t working properly at the City Ground tonight. Another element to throw into a combustible mix, with Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis currently huffing and puffing in the stands. If only he could find a manager capable of organising a defence, eh?
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Watkins also saw a shot cleared off the line while at the other end, Bizot has made saves to deny Hadj Moussa and Ueda in quick succession. Over in Austria, Butland has been called into action to keep Rangers in touch – Sturm Graz still lead 1-0.
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With all this chaos at the City Ground, I’ve barely had time to report on Villa’s progress. Feyenoord’s Anel Ahmedhodzic was booked for a last-man foul on Ollie Watkins, with the referee reviewing but sticking with his decision after a word in the ear from VAR.
Villa’s Ollie Watkins is felled by Anel Ahmedhodzic of Feyenoord. Photograph: Neville Williams/AVFC/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 21.39 CEST
GOAL! Nottm Forest 1-2 Midtjylland (Sorensen 22′)
Forest are back behind almost immediately, and it’s another set-piece nightmare. Sorensen, who set up the opener from a free kick, stabs home a loose ball from a corner. Murillo is injured in the melee, and will have to go off. I wonder if Nuno’s watching.
Mads Bech Sørensen (left) stretches out a leg to put Midtjylland back in front! Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/ReutersShare
Updated at 21.32 CEST
GOAL! Nottm Forest 1-1 Midtjylland (Ndoye 21′)
A welcome quick leveller to quiet any murmurs of discontent at the City Ground. Dan Ndoye sweeps home to finish off a nice team move, and we’re all square. Or are we?
Dan Ndoye slides in for an instant reply for Forest! Photograph: David Klein/ReutersShare
Updated at 21.27 CEST
There was a late change to the Aston Villa line-up, with Marco Bizot replacing Emi Martínez in goal. No official word on why that is, although Tony Hughes has had enough: “That’s two European games running he’s missed. He and Villa should part ways in January.”
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Updated at 21.33 CEST
GOAL! Nottm Forest 0-1 Midtjylland (Diao 18′)
It’s another goal conceded from a set piece as Forest fail to deal with a free kick, flicked on by Sorensen and smashed in at the far post by fellow centre-back Ousmane Diao.
Ousmane Diao prods Midtjylland into the lead! Photograph: David Klein/ReutersShare
Updated at 21.23 CEST
It’s been a spicy start to Forest v Midtjylland, with some hefty challenges flying in already. The visitors are second in the Danish league and recently won 3-1 at Brondby – who are managed by none other than Steve Cooper.
Spicy! Photograph: Joe Giddens/PAShare
Updated at 21.21 CEST
Porto lead Red Star Belgrade through William Gomes’ penalty, while Lyon lead Salzburg 1-0 through Martin Satriano’s header after Pavel Sulc missed an early spot-kick for the hosts.
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GOAL! Aberdeen 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk (Karlsson pen 9′)
Better news for another struggling Scottish side, though, with Jesper Karlsson firing home an early penalty at Pittodrie. It could have been even better for the hosts, with Leighton Clarkson failing to punish an awful error from the Shakhtar keeper.
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GOAL! Sturm Graz 1-0 Rangers (Horvat 7′)
A nightmare start for Russell Martin as the hosts take an early lead. It’s all too easy, a diagonal pass causing defensive chaos before Tomi Horvat’s shot deflects in off Jack Butland’s knee.
Not a good start for Rangers in Austria! Photograph: Borut Živulovič/ReutersShare
Updated at 21.16 CEST
Speaking of early aberrations, AZ Alkmaar’s Penetra has been sent off after just two minutes at AEK Larnaca in the Conference League. We got our first red card before a first goal – that came three minutes in at Basel, who lead Stuttgart through Albian Ajeti.
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We’re under way in all of the 8pm kick-offs. At the City Ground, Postecoglou has gone for a back three of Milenkovic, Murillo and Morato – but the latter picks up an immediate booking and Midtjylland have a dangerous free kick, which deflects wide.
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Conference League early results
Dynamo Kyiv 0-2 Crystal Palace
Jagellonia 1-0 Hamrun
KuPS 1-1 Drita
Lausanne 3-0 Breidablik
Lech Poznan 4-1 Rapid Vienna
Noah 1-0 Rijeka
Omonia Nicosia 0-1 Mainz
Rayo Vallecano 2-0 Shkendija
Zrinjski 5-0 Lincoln Red Imps
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Europa League early results
Roma 0-1 Lille
Bologna 1-1 Freiburg
Brann 1-0 Utrecht
Celtic 0-2 Braga
FCSB 0-2 Young Boys
Fenerbahce 2-1 Nice
Ludogorets 0-2 Betis
Panathinaikos 1-2 Go Ahead Eagles
Viktoria Plzen 3-0 Malmö
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Ange Postecoglou: “It’s an exciting night, the club has a rich European history and it’s an overdue return. We’re gonna need some energy tonight … they’ve got a big focus on set plays, they’re very direct. We’ve done our work to make sure we’re ready. But ultimately we’re at home, and we should be able to put the pressure on them.”
It’s tifo time by the Trent! Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/ReutersShare
Updated at 21.05 CEST
Rangers’ Russell Martin: “We have to run together, work together, fight to the end. [Sturm Graz] are very good at what they do, so we have to try and utilise our strengths and hurt them if we can, by playing the way we want to.”
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Unai Emery: “We are in a process but I am seeing an improvement, in how we are playing as a team, introducing the new players. The Premier League is such a demanding league, we have to be so focused and consistent. Europe is always very difficult and we have our own experience with this. It’s a very good test for us today.”
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Tonight’s later Conference League games feature two League of Ireland teams:
“Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers are the first pair of Irish teams to reach the group stage of the same competition,” writes John Brennan. Shelbourne (who host Häcken) beat Linfield to reach the league phase, while Shamrock Rovers will be looking to do better than last year when they qualified for the knockout rounds before eventually losing to Molde on penalties. They beat Santa Clara of Portugal to get here, and face Sparta Prague last night. Former Ireland U21 international Pico Lopes starts in defence – he could feature at the World Cup next summer with Cape Verde.”
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Full time: Celtic 0-2 Braga
More Euro woe for Celtic, beaten at home by Braga, who top the (very early) Europa League table with two wins. Brendan Rodgers can point to VAR’s decision to disallow Kelechi Iheanacho’s equaliser for a handball nobody else could see, but it’s still another disappointing night for his team.
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Full time: Dynamo Kyiv 0-2 Crystal Palace
Palace begin their Conference League group-stage campaign with a deserved win, Daniel Muñoz and Eddie Nketiah the scorers. Borna Sosa’s late red card was the only blemish on an otherwise excellent night for Oliver Glasner’s army.
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Shout out to Lille keeper Berke Ozer, who has saved three Roma penalty attempts to preserve his team’s lead. Ozer saved Matias Soulé’s spot-kick after his two previous saves – both from Artem Dovbyk – were ruled out for encroachment. Hat-tip to Iain Kelly for pointing out there were three attempts, rather than two. There’s a bit more on Ozer here, although in the interests of balance I should point out that my list also included Borna Sosa.
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Updated at 20.42 CEST
GOAL! Celtic 0-2 Braga (Martínez 84′)
Oh dear. Celtic fans head for the exits en masse after Braga double their lead. Rodrigues’ shot was parried by Schmeichel and while Gabri Martínez’s first shot was blocked, an attempted clearance ricochets off his shins and into the net.
Gabri Martinez doubles Braga’s lead against Celtic. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PAShare
Updated at 20.39 CEST
Red card! Palace were cruising, but Borna Sosa has been sent off after a second yellow card, for what was a pretty careless challenge. There’s just under 15 minutes for Dynamo Kyiv to get back into the game …
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Nottingham Forest v Midtjylland team news
Nottingham Forest (3-4-3): Sels; Milenkovic, Morato, Murillo; Ndoye, Anderson, Sangaré, Williams; Gibbs-White, Igor Jesus, Hudson-Odoi.
Subs: John Victor, Wood, Kalimuendo, Domínguez, Yates, McAtee, Bakwa, Boly, Savona, Abbott.
Midtjylland (3-4-3): Olafsson; Diao, Erlic, Sorensen; Mbabu, Castillo, Billing, Jensen; Junior Brumado, Cho, Simsir.
Subs: Lossl, Lee, Franculino, Osorio, Gabriel, Chilufya, Bravo, Paulinho, Daniel Silva, Etim, Andreasen, Gogorza.
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Rangers and Aberdeen team news
Sturm Graz v Rangers
Sturm Graz (4-3-1-2): Christensen; Oermann, Aiwu, Lavalee, Karic; Stankovic, Horvat, Chukwuani; Kiteishvili; Malone, Beganovic.
Subs: Wiener-Pucher, Bignetti, Mitchell, Jatta, Beck,
Hierlander, Haider, Geyrhofer, Grgic, Weinhandl, Hodl.
Rangers (4-2-3-1): Butland; Tavernier, Cornelius, Souttar, Meghoma; Barron, Raskin; Antman, Aasgaard, Gassama; Chermiti.
Subs: Kelly, Wright, Aarons, Rothwell, Cameron, Djiga, Miovski, Moore,
Rice, Curtis, McCallion, Danilo.
Aberdeen v Shakhtar Donetsk
Aberdeen (3-5-2): Mitov; Knoester, Milne, Dorrington; Devlin, Armstrong, Palaversa, Clarkson, Keskinen; Lazetic, Karlsson.
Subs: Suman, Vitols, Shinnie, Nilsen, Aouchiche, Polvara, Yengi, Milanovic, Nisbet, Molloy, Lobban, Gyamfi.
Shakhtar Donetsk (4-1-4-1): Riznyk; Augusto, Bondar, Matviyenko, Pereira Pedrinho; Nazaryna; Ferreira, Ocheretko, Marlon Gomes, Da Silva Pedrinho; Kaua Elias.
Subs: Fesyun, Marlon, Kryskiv, Shved, Isaque, Azarovi, Ghram, Glushchenko, Bondarenko, Konoplya, Meirelles, Faryna.
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Updated at 20.19 CEST
Celtic are pushing for an equaliser, but risk conceding a second on the break. João Moutinho is on for Braga, while Brendan Rodgers has thrown on Arne Engels and Reo Hatate.
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Given how both teams’ seasons have panned out so far, Palace getting demoted to the Conference League and replaced by Nottingham Forest looks to have actually worked out in the Eagles’ favour.
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Team news: Feyenoord v Aston Villa
Feyenoord (4-3-3): Wellenreuther; Read, Ahmedhodzic, Watanabe, Smal; Valente, Steijn, Hwang; Hadj Moussa, Ueda, Sauer.
Subs: Bijlow, Bossin, Nieuwkoop, Larin, Borges, Bos, Tengstedt, Diarra, Targhaline, Lotomba, Sliti, Plug.
Aston Villa (4-3-3): Martínez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen; Rogers, Kamara, McGinn; Guessand, Watkins, Buendía.
Subs: Bizot, Proctor, Lindelöf, Elliott, Digne, Malen, Jimoh, Bogarde, Burrowes, Broggio.
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Dynamo Kyiv 0-2 Crystal Palace (Nketiah 57′)
Moments later, Nketiah does get his goal, finishing well after Yeremy Piño’s lovely turn and cross into the area. It’s no more than Palace deserve.
Eddie Nketiah bags a second for Palace! Photograph: Andrzej Iwańczuk/NurPhoto/ShutterstockShare
Updated at 20.19 CEST
Another disallowed goal, more clear-cut this time as substitute Eddie Nketiah’s effort for Crystal Palace is chalked off for an offside …
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Celtic thought they were level, but Kelechi Iheanacho’s strike has been disallowed by VAR, who ruled that the forward controlled the ball with his arm in the buildup. From the angle we’ve seen, it wasn’t clear the ball touched his arm at all.
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Updated at 20.02 CEST
Conference League half-time scores:
Dynamo Kyiv 0-1 Crystal Palace
Jagellonia 0-0 Hamrun
KuPS 0-0 Drita
Lausanne 3-0 Breidablik
Lech Poznan 3-0 Rapid Vienna
Noah 1-0 Rijeka
Omonia Nicosia 0-0 Mainz
Rayo Vallecano 2-0 Shkendija
Zrinjski 3-0 Lincoln Red Imps
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Europa League half-time scores:
Roma 0-1 Lille
Bologna 1-0 Freiburg
Brann 1-0 Utrecht
Celtic 0-1 Braga
FCSB 0-2 Young Boys
Fenerbahce 2-1 Nice
Ludogorets 0-1 Betis
Panathinaikos 0-0 Go Ahead Eagles
Viktoria Plzen 2-0 Malmö
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Half time: Dynamo Kyiv 0-1 Crystal Palace
A fine start to the Conference League proper for Palace, with Daniel Muñoz’s header giving the visitors a deserved lead in Lublin.
Daniel Muñoz finds the far corner with a looping header. Photograph: Andrzej Iwańczuk/NurPhoto/ShutterstockShare
Half time: Celtic 0-1 Braga
Another tough European night for Brendan Rodgers so far, as the visitors lead through Ricardo Horta’s long-range shot, which had Kasper Schmeichel flapping at thin air.
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Preamble
Nottingham Forest’s last home game in Europe was a sobering affair: hopeful after returning from Munich with just a 2-1 deficit, the hosts shipped five goals to a rampant Bayern side in March 1996. Tonight’s opponents, Midtjylland, did not even exist back then – the Danish side were formed by a merger in 1999 but have amassed extensive European experience in the last decade, and represent a tough test for Ange Postecoglou, still seeking his first win as Forest manager.
Aston Villa have also made an underwhelming start to the season and face a more established European name in Feyenoord – whose home ground in Rotterdam was scene of Villa’s greatest night back in 1982. While fans enjoy a nostalgic trip to De Kuip, Unai Emery’s chief concern will be maintaining momentum after eking out successive victories over Bologna and Fulham in the last week.
Speaking of tough starts, Russell Martin may have finally won a game and boosted his standing among Rangers fans by around 0.0001%, but Sturm Graz look capable of returning the beleaguered manager to rock bottom. Another manager under pressure, Aberdeen’s Jimmy Thelin, welcomes Shakhtar Donetsk to Pittodrie in the Conference League.
All those games kick off at 8pm (BST), but we’ll have updates from Crystal Palace’s Conference League trip to face Dynamo Kyiv in Poland and Celtic’s home Europa League game against Braga, plus all the other hot Euro action. Hold tight!
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Updated at 20.20 CEST
