… and with that, today’s Euro Clockwatch comes to an end. Thanks for reading and sticking with us!
Nancy: I'm not concerned ... things will go our way
Wilfried Nancy talks to TNT Sports. “I asked a few things but the reality is we are not able to cope with the intensity … we could not come out under pressure … as soon as we had time to play forward we didn’t take the good decision … I really liked the second half … we escaped the pressure … I don’t like to talk about luck but it was an own goal … to come from behind was not easy … the attitude was good … the second half was better … I cannot tell you they didn’t try … they tried … we should have been able to connect a little bit more … I’m not concerned because I really liked the reaction … this is the most important … if they scored one goal the dynamic can change … I saw already good things … the result is not what we want … we play to win games … at this moment it is a bit difficult … I believe my players deserved more … but this is the reality … we rest and prepare for the final … the belief from my players is really strong and this is the most important for me … I respect the fans … they are really important for us … we play for them … they are not happy with the situation … they showed it … I know where we are going … for the moment it is obviously not what we want but I see lots of good things … patience is important … I believe in what we do … shortly things will go our way.”
Celtic 0-3 Roma. Ewan Murray was at Parkhead tonight as Evan Ferguson came of age in a Roma shirt. This is his report.
Basel 1-2 Aston Villa. Ben Fisher watched Villa break Basel fan Roger Federer’s heart. Here’s his verdict on Villa’s eighth win in succession.
Shelbourne 0-3 Crystal Palace. Ed Aarons was in Dublin to witness Palace’s walk in the park. Here’s his report.
Celtic’s Arne Engels talks to TNT Sports. “It was not good enough … we lost too many duels … we can do better … hopefully we can move on because we have a final in a few days … it’s up to us to keep our head high … react and go on … obviously the system is different … we need to find some solutions … there’s not a lot of time for the final … we cannot lose that … everybody is focused on that.”
Here’s what it’s done to the Europa League table. Aston Villa are looking good for a top-eight finish; Nottingham Forest have helped their chances of swerving the play-off round as well. Celtic have work to do if they’re to make it through the league stage, while Rangers are as good as out.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lyon | 6 | 10 | 15 |
| 2 | Midtjylland | 6 | 8 | 15 |
| 3 | Aston Villa | 6 | 6 | 15 |
| 4 | Real Betis | 6 | 7 | 14 |
| 5 | Freiburg | 6 | 6 | 14 |
| 6 | Ferencvaros | 6 | 5 | 14 |
| 7 | Braga | 6 | 5 | 13 |
| 8 | FC Porto | 6 | 4 | 13 |
| 9 | Stuttgart | 6 | 7 | 12 |
| 10 | Roma | 6 | 5 | 12 |
| 11 | Nottm Forest | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| 12 | Bologna | 6 | 4 | 11 |
| 13 | Fenerbahce | 6 | 4 | 11 |
| 14 | Plzen | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 15 | Panathinaikos | 6 | 2 | 10 |
| 16 | Genk | 6 | 1 | 10 |
| 17 | Red Star Belgrade | 6 | 0 | 10 |
| 18 | PAOK | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 19 | Celta Vigo | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 20 | Lille | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 21 | Young Boys | 6 | -4 | 9 |
| 22 | Brann | 6 | -1 | 8 |
| 23 | Ludogorets | 6 | -3 | 7 |
| 24 | Celtic | 6 | -4 | 7 |
| 25 | Dinamo Zagreb | 6 | -5 | 7 |
| 26 | Basel | 6 | -1 | 6 |
| 27 | FCSB | 6 | -4 | 6 |
| 28 | Go Ahead Eagles | 6 | -6 | 6 |
| 29 | Sturm Graz | 6 | -4 | 4 |
| 30 | Feyenoord | 6 | -6 | 3 |
| 31 | Red Bull Salzburg | 6 | -6 | 3 |
| 32 | Utrecht | 6 | -6 | 1 |
| 33 | Rangers | 6 | -8 | 1 |
| 34 | Malmo FF | 6 | -9 | 1 |
| 35 | Maccabi Tel-Aviv | 6 | -16 | 1 |
| 36 | Nice | 6 | -9 | 0 |
A reminder of the earlier results in the Europa League.
Dinamo Zagreb 1-3 Real Betis
Ferencváros 2-1 Rangers
Ludogorets 3-3 PAOK
Midtjylland 1-0 Genk
Nice 0-1 Sporting Braga
Sturm Graz 0-1 Red Star Belgrade
Stuttgart 4-1 Maccabi Tel Aviv
Utrecht 1-2 Nottingham Forest
Young Boys 1-0 Lille
Updated
Europa League: the late full-times
Basel 1-2 Aston Villa
Brann 0-4 Fenerbahce
Celta Vigo 1-2 Bologna
Celtic 0-3 Roma
FCSB 4-3 Feyenoord
Freiburg 1-0 Red Bull Salzburg
Olympique Lyonnais 2-1 Go Ahead Eagles
Panathinaikos 0-0 Viktoria Plzen
Porto 2-1 Malmo
FULL TIME: Celtic 0-3 Roma
A humbling for the hosts at Parkhead. The booing at the whistle is loud enough; imagine if half of the punters in the stadium hadn’t already gone home in a huff. Wilfried Nancy becomes the first Celtic manager in history to lose his first two matches in charge.
FULL TIME: Aberdeen 0-1 Strasbourg
Aberdeen are out of the Conference League.
FULL TIME: Basel 1-2 Aston Villa
A big win for Villa in Switzerland. Their eighth in a row in all competitions! They’re guaranteed a spot in the play-offs at least, but they’re on course for something better.
FULL TIME: Shelbourne 0-3 Crystal Palace
Daniel Kelly has half a chance late on for a consolation for Shels, but his shot, aimed for the top right, is palmed around the post by Walter Benítez. An easy win for Palace in Dublin.
Basel 1-2 Aston Villa. Koba Koindredi sends a diagonal free kick into the Villa box from the left. Albian Ajeti meets it on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box but flashes his header wide right. Marco Bizot probably had it covered, though he’d still have had to make a good save. He should have been put to work.
Celtic 0-3 Roma. Paulo Dybala and Leon Bailey take turns to have shots blocked in short order. Roma still sniffing around for a fourth.
Basel 1-2 Aston Villa. Villa aren’t exactly hanging on in Basel, but the hosts are doing what they can in search of an equaliser. Dominik Schmid bursts into their box down the left, and Lamare Bogarde clumsily lunges at him, but the Villa defender gets the benefit of a generous decision when the pair collide. That was just inside the area as well.
NO GOAL: Celtic 0-3 Roma
Small mercy for Celtic, as Bailey went off a second too soon on his initial run down the right. That hasn’t stopped quite a lot of Parkhead regulars making their own early runs for the exits. A lot of flipped-up seats in the stands.
GOAL! Celtic 0-4 Roma (Bailey 74)
Leon Bailey is sent scampering into acres down the right. He feeds Gianluca Mancini on the overlap. Mancini tries to round Kasper Schmeichel, but is forced too far wide right. He cuts back for Bailey, who drops a shoulder once, then again, to nudge into the box, right to left, and curls into the top left. Lovely finish!
Aberdeen 0-1 Strasbourg. Nicky Devlin brings down Martial Godo for a Strasbourg penalty. Joaquin Panichelli is subbed on to take it, but Ismael Doukoure takes the ball off him … and of course then misses. What a fiasco. Hats off to Dimitar Mitov for making the save, though.
Shelbourne 0-3 Crystal Palace. Romain Esse couldn’t come any closer to making it four for Palace. He fires a shot off the base of the right-hand post, the ball sailing across the face of goal, off the base of the left-hand post, and back into the arms of Shels keeper Wessel Speel.
Celtic 0-3 Roma. On the touchline, Wilfried Nancy looks to the heavens. He can’t catch a break at the moment. Since he’s rocked up at Parkhead, pretty much everything that can go wrong has done. It’s pelting down with rain, as well, and he doesn’t have his hood up.
NO GOAL: Celtic 0-3 Roma
Nope. Turns out Iheanacho had rather needlessly gone too early in the middle. He was ahead of Engels and there goes that dream.
GOAL! Celtic 1-3 Roma (Iheanacho 64)
Celtic win their first corner of the evening. It nearly sparks joy, Niccolò Pisilli inches away from skimming a header into his own net. From the second corner, the ball’s worked down the right flank, Arne Engels crossing low, Kelechi Iheanacho whipping home from eight yards. Game on?
Updated
Shelbourne 0-3 Crystal Palace. Palace continue to press Shelbourne back, but without expending too much energy. They’ve gently established total control.
Basel 1-2 Aston Villa. Jadon Sancho crosses from the left. Evann Guessand, 12 yards out, blazes over. A big chance to double Villa’s lead goes begging.
Celtic 0-3 Roma. Celtic go straight up the other end, and Kelechi Iheanacho gains a yard down the middle … only to whip his low shot into the side netting with only the keeper to beat. Throw in the missed penalty, and as bad as Celtic have been, they could easily have clawed their way back into this.
Celtic 0-3 Roma. Roma work their way back into the ascendency, Stephan El Shaarawy crossing for Niccolò Pisilli, who has to score, six yards out, but nuts wide left. The flag pops up to save his blushes.
GOAL! Basel 1-2 Aston Villa (Tielemans 53)
Villa retake the lead through Youri Tielemans, who meets Emiliano Buendía’s low cross along the face of the box, right to left, with a confident sidefoot into the bottom right!
Updated
Celtic 0-3 Roma. Celtic have started the second half brightly, to be fair. Wilfried Nancy may well have got round to unpacking his hairdryer from the removal crates.
Celtic 0-3 Roma. With Wilfried Nancy already registering 11 on the Guardian’s patented Russell Martin Glasgow Honeymoon-o-meter™, one-and-a-half matches into his Celtic reign, he makes a triple change: on come Kelechi Iheanacho, Paulo Bernardo and Colby Donovan for Daizen Maeda, Benjamin Nygren and Kieran Tierney.
The matches in Dublin, Basel and Aberdeen have started again. The one in Glasgow in a minute.
Half-time postbag. “I know they’ve not had their differences to seek with the current board, but at least Celtic don’t have Gianni Infantino in charge. Though I wonder if the fans that forked out the £45 that the club were charging tonight, which would get you around one minute of the World Cup final next year, consider it good value for money?” – Simon McMahon
“I think those were Evan Ferguson’s second and third goal for Roma. Considering that when he arrived at the Italian club he hadn’t scored in over a year, that’s pretty good. The Giallorossi surely hope this means he’s found his scoring boots again, and so do Ireland. How they could do with having another striker in form come the spring” – Kári Tulinius
Europa League 8pms: the half-times
Basel 1-1 Aston Villa
Brann 0-3 Fenerbahce
Celta Vigo 1-0 Bologna
Celtic 0-3 Roma
FCSB 1-2 Feyenoord
Freiburg 0-0 Red Bull Salzburg
Olympique Lyonnais 2-1 Go Ahead Eagles
Panathinaikos 0-0 Viktoria Plzen
Porto 2-0 Malmo
HALF TIME: Aberdeen 0-1 Strasbourg
… and this scoreline possibly flatters Strasbourg. The Dons will be knocked out tonight if this is the full-time result.
HALF TIME: Shelbourne 0-3 Crystal Palace
The FA Cup holders in total control.
HALF TIME: Basel 1-1 Aston Villa
This scoreline’s about right on balance, though.
HALF TIME: Celtic 0-3 Roma
Celtic depart to boos. They’ve been utterly shredded. The scoreline flatters them, if anything.
Celtic 0-3 Roma. Reo Hatate has the ball. But there’s a long delay, as Mario Hermoso is booked for the foul that led to the penalty, then Stephan El Shaarawy follows him into the referee’s notebook for saying his piece. So Hatate gives the ball to Arne Engels … who raps a low shot off the base of the left-hand post, across the face of goal, and away. Nothing going right for Celtic this evening.
Updated
Celtic 0-3 Roma. Penalty for Celtic! Arne Engels tries to get the better of Mario Hermoso down the inside right. Hermoso grabs his arm. Engels goes over, and the referee points to the spot. It’s very generous, but it’s a lifeline for Celtic just before the break!
GOAL! Celtic 0-3 Roma (Ferguson 45+1)
There’s something wrong in Paradise all right. Matias Soulé crosses low from the right. Evan Ferguson gets in ahead of Liam Scales, takes a touch, spins, and whips a shot across Kasper Schmeichel and into the bottom left. This is the evening Evan Ferguson’s Roma career finally takes off!
Updated
GOAL! Aberdeen 0-1 Strasbourg (Godo 35)
Aberdeen have been the better side … but they’re behind, Martial Godo slotting upon being released down the middle.
Updated
Celtic 0-2 Roma. Matias Soulé spins Kieran Tierney down the right and enters the box. Tierney has a grab and a nibble from behind, and is fortunate Soulé tries to stay on his feet. Had he flopped to the floor, the referee would have had a decision to make. He’d have most probably pointed to the spot.
Basel 1-1 Aston Villa. Basel are well on top now. Bénie Traore is sent clear down the middle but Marco Bizot makes up for his earlier flap with a fine save. Turns out Traore was offside, but the keeper wasn’t to know that.
Celtic 0-2 Roma. Parkhead is very quiet. We’re in Kid Creole territory here.
GOAL! Shelbourne 0-3 Crystal Palace (Pino 37)
Yeremy Pino dances his way down the middle of the park. A proper sashay-slalom. And pings home. Such a lovely dribble, and Shelbourne are being seriously outclassed.
GOAL! Celtic 0-2 Roma (Ferguson 36)
The Republic of Ireland international makes it two! Matias Soulé feeds the overlapping Zeki Çelik down the right. Çelik cuts back for Evan Ferguson, who slots from close range. Lovely move. Celtic a rabble. It’s an understatement to say that had been coming.
Updated
GOAL! Basel 1-1 Aston Villa (Daniliuc 34)
Basel are level this time! A free kick hooked in by Shaqiri from the left. Marco Bizot comes out to collect … but fails in his task. Flavius Daniliuc sticks out a leg and gently guides the ball past the flapping keeper and into the bottom right. Lovely free kick delivery, cute finish, awful goalkeeping.
Updated
Celtic 0-1 Roma. Celtic ship possession too easily yet again, and this time it’s Niccolò Pisilli who takes a shy at goal from distance. Wilfried Nancy finally gets up from the dugout to issue his new charges some beneficial advice. Celtic are all over the shop.
NO GOAL! Basel 0-1 Aston Villa
VAR has a look, and turns out there was an offside in the build-up. Villa get away with one.
GOAL! Basel 1-1 Aston Villa (Leroy 27)
Basel dangerman Dominik Schmid’s shot from a tight angle on the left is parried. It drops to Leo Leroy, who creams a low drive across Marco Bizot and into the bottom left. What a finish!
Updated
Celtic 0-1 Roma. Celtic are caught playing out slowly from the back, and Evan Ferguson clatters a shot off the right-hand upright, and out for a goal kick. Celtic nearly buckling under all this pressure.
GOAL! Shelbourne 0-2 Crystal Palace (Nketiah 25)
Yeremy Pino releases Christantus Uche into the box down the middle. Uche telescopes a leg to prod the ball past Shels keeper Wessel Speel to the left. The ball clanks off the base of the left-hand post, and Eddie Nketiah can’t miss from a yard out.
Updated
Celtic 0-1 Roma. Roma captain Stephan El Shaarawy is in the mood. Now he barrels down the middle, before laying off to Zeki Çelik, who has time and space on the right-hand edge of the Celtic D. He aims a curler towards the unguarded left-hand portion of the net, but gets the direction all wrong. Goal kick. Had he managed to get that on target, Kasper Schmeichel might have been in trouble, because he was slightly out of position.
Basel 0-1 Aston Villa. Dominik Schmid dribbles in from the left and aims for the bottom left. No good. He’s been Basel’s liveliest customer, though.
Celtic 0-1 Roma. Stephan El Shaarawy whips a cross in from the left, looking for Evan Ferguson. Kasper Schmeichel reads the danger, coming off his line to punch clear, just in the nick of time. Celtic seriously under the cosh here.
Aberdeen 0-0 Strasbourg. Mats Knoester heads home from a corner at a windy Pittodrie, and for a moment, it looks as though the Dons have the lead. But VAR pokes its neb in, and turns out Knoester’s arm played a part. No goal.
Shelbourne 0-1 Crystal Palace. Adam Wharton batters a long-range shot inches over the bar. Palace well on top in Dublin.
GOAL! Basel 0-1 Aston Villa (Guessand 12)
A corner comes in from the left. Some pinball. Evann Guessand, his back to goal, swivels and whips a low drive towards the bottom right. It goes in, bagatelling its way through a forest of defensive legs, giving the unsighted keeper no chance.
Updated
GOAL! Shelbourne 0-1 Crystal Palace (Uche 11)
Eddie Nketiah is sent scampering down the inside-left channel. He crosses low for Christantus Uche, who opens his body and steers into the bottom right. Easy as that.
Updated
Celtic 0-1 Roma. There’s already a pensive atmosphere in Parkhead. Stephan El Shaarawy whistles a low drive inches wide of the right-hand post. Meanwhile it turns out the opening goal has been credited to Liam Scales, who got in ahead of Gianluca Mancini to divert into his own net.
Basel 0-0 Aston Villa. Dominik Schmid meets a cross looping in from the right by steering a shot with the inside of his foot towards the bottom left. Easy enough for Marco Bizot in the Villa goal.
GOAL! Celtic 0-1 Roma (Mancini 6)
Roma win the first corner of the evening, and score from it. Matias Soulé swings it in from the right, Gianluca Mancini rises above Liam Scales and plants a header into the top-right corner. Simple as that. In the dugout, Wilfried Nancy sits expressionless.
Updated
Shelbourne 0-0 Crystal Palace. In the Conference League, Marc Guéhi is this close to prodding home amid a penalty-box meleé.
Celtic 0-0 Roma. It’s all Roma in the early exchanges. The home side struggling to get a touch.
Celtic 0-0 Roma. Celtic are wearing black armbands tonight, on account of John ‘Dixie’ Deans, who passed away this week at the age of 79. A bona-fide club legend, Deans scored hat-tricks in both the 1972 Scottish Cup final and 1974 League Cup final, against Hibs on both occasions.
The 8pms are go. It’s all happening, all over Europe.
This is the Europa League after the 5.45pms and before the 8pms. Nottingham Forest in the top-eight places for now, Rangers as good as out.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Midtjylland | 6 | 8 | 15 |
| 2 | Real Betis | 6 | 7 | 14 |
| 3 | Ferencvaros | 6 | 5 | 14 |
| 4 | Braga | 6 | 5 | 13 |
| 5 | Lyon | 5 | 9 | 12 |
| 6 | Stuttgart | 6 | 7 | 12 |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 5 | 5 | 12 |
| 8 | Nottm Forest | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| 9 | Freiburg | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 10 | FC Porto | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 11 | Genk | 6 | 1 | 10 |
| 12 | Red Star Belgrade | 6 | 0 | 10 |
| 13 | Celta Vigo | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 14 | Plzen | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 15 | PAOK | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 16 | Lille | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 17 | Panathinaikos | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| 18 | Roma | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| 19 | Young Boys | 6 | -4 | 9 |
| 20 | Bologna | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 21 | Brann | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| 22 | Fenerbahce | 5 | 0 | 8 |
| 23 | Celtic | 5 | -1 | 7 |
| 24 | Ludogorets | 6 | -3 | 7 |
| 25 | Dinamo Zagreb | 6 | -5 | 7 |
| 26 | Basel | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| 27 | Go Ahead Eagles | 5 | -5 | 6 |
| 28 | Sturm Graz | 6 | -4 | 4 |
| 29 | Red Bull Salzburg | 5 | -5 | 3 |
| 30 | Feyenoord | 5 | -5 | 3 |
| 31 | FCSB | 5 | -5 | 3 |
| 32 | Utrecht | 6 | -6 | 1 |
| 33 | Rangers | 6 | -8 | 1 |
| 34 | Malmo FF | 5 | -8 | 1 |
| 35 | Maccabi Tel-Aviv | 6 | -16 | 1 |
| 36 | Nice | 6 | -9 | 0 |
The early full-times
Dinamo Zagreb 1-3 Real Betis
Ferencváros 2-1 Rangers
Ludogorets 3-3 PAOK
Midtjylland 1-0 Genk
Nice 0-1 Sporting Braga
Sturm Graz 0-1 Red Star Belgrade
Stuttgart 4-1 Maccabi Tel Aviv
Utrecht 1-2 Nottingham Forest
Young Boys 1-0 Lille
FULL TIME: Ferencváros 2-1 Rangers
Findlay Curtis has one final effort tipped around the post, and that’s it. Robbie Keane’s side, who wear green and white hoops, have done a number on Rangers. Danny Röhl’s team are as good as out of this year’s Europa League.
FULL TIME: Utrecht 1-2 Nottingham Forest
A huge win for Sean Dyche’s side. Forest’s first away win in Europe for 30 years, since a 1-0 win at Auxerre in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup, Steve Stone the hero that day. Their dreams of a top-eight finish are still alive!
Ferencváros 2-1 Rangers. Findlay Curtis sends another fine cross in from the left. Dujon Sterling extends a leg to meet, six yards out, but slices over the bar. Curtis holds his head in his hands and screams: “Come on, man!” Pure frustration.
Utrecht 1-2 Nottingham Forest. Callum Hudson-Odoi nearly wraps things up by steering a drive towards the bottom right from 25 yards. Vasilis Barkas saves spectacularly.
GOAL! Utrecht 1-2 Nottingham Forest (Igor Jesus 88)
Morgan Gibbs-White wedges a ball down the inside-left channel. Callum Hudson-Odoi cut-chips it back for Dan Ndoye, whose header is parried. But the ball drops to Igor Jesus, on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. He slots, having been on the pitch for a grand total of 88 seconds!
Updated
Ferencváros 2-1 Rangers. Rangers haven’t achieved much in their search for an equaliser. But now they launch a rare attack, Findlay Curtis making good down the left and crossing long for Dujon Sterling, who heads powerfully over the bar from six yards. It’s not much, but it’s something, with time running out for Rangers, who will be as good as out if they don’t scrape a point.
Stuttgart 3-1 Maccabi Tel Aviv. Some bonus content here. No need to thank us! And there really is no need to thank us, because it comes courtesy of our old MBM and Clockwatch pal Kári Tulinius. “Stuttgart looked like they were heading to the most comfortable of home wins when they went 3-0 up after yet another defensive rick by Maccabi, when the normally reliable Alexander Nübel tried to save Roy Revivo’s shot with a hand so weak it seemed like it was made out of cottage cheese. The comedy defending moment still goes to the visitors, though, who let in an opener after a covering defender simply fell on his behind while tracking a high ball, giving Lorenz Assignon all the time in the world to measure the aim on his volley.”
GOAL! Ferencváros 2-1 Rangers (Varga 72)
Callum O’Dowda swings a ball in from the left wing. Barnabás Varga heads into the top-right corner from close range. He couldn’t miss, partly because the nearest defender, Emmanuel Fernandez, was the wrong side of the striker, facing upfield, then span around in confusion, making no challenge whatsoever. Comically poor defending.
Updated
GOAL! Utrecht 1-1 Nottingham Forest (van der Hoorn 73)
A free kick swung in long from the right. Mike van der Hoorn stoops at the far post to guide a header home from close range. Dan Ndoye was in the area but powerless to do anything.
Celtic v Roma. Wilfried Nancy’s first match as Celtic boss ended in a 2-1 home defeat to Hearts. Nevertheless, he’s named the same starting XI tonight, fielding a back three of Kieran Tierney, Liam Scales and Auston Trusty. Republic of Ireland striker Evan Ferguson starts for Roma.
Basel v Aston Villa. Villa make several changes after the 2-1 win over Arsenal. Emi Buendía is rewarded for his late winner with a starting spot, while Jadon Sancho gets a runout. Marco Bizot starts in goal in place of Emi Martinez. Xherdan Shaqiri, once of Liverpool and Stoke City, captains Basel.
Utrecht 0-1 Nottingham Forest. Arnaud Kalimuendo is this close to his second goal, but can’t bundle home a corner whipped long from the left to the far post. Forest are on top and looking pretty comfortable.
Updated
The big 8pm team news
Basel: Hitz, Tsunemoto, Adjetey, Daniliuc, Schmid, Metinho, Leroy, Bacanin, Traore, Shaqiri, Otele.
Subs: Salvi, Pfeiffer, Vouilloz, Koindredi, Broschinski, Soticek, Salah, Ajeti, Barisic, Ruegg, Cisse, Ze.
Aston Villa: Bizot, Cash, Konsa, Lindelof, Digne, Bogarde, Onana, Guessand, Buendia, Sancho, Malen.
Subs: Wright, Oakley, McGinn, Tielemans, Watkins, Garcia, Maatsen, Rogers, Kamara, Hemmings.
Celtic: Schmeichel, Trusty, Scales, Tierney, Yang, McGregor, Engels, Tounekti, Nygren, Maeda, Hatate.
Subs: Sinisalo, Doohan, Balikwisha, McCowan, Iheanacho, Kenny, Bernardo, Murray, Donovan, Ralston.
Roma: Svilar, Mancini, N’Dicka, Hermoso, Celik, Soule, El Aynaoui, Rensch, Pisilli, El Shaarawy, Ferguson.
Subs: De Marzi, Gollini, Angelino, Cristante, Pellegrini, Tsimikas, Kone, Dybala, Ziolkowski, Bailey, Franca, Ghilardi.
GOAL! Utrecht 0-1 Nottingham Forest (Kalimuendo 52)
Arnaud Kalimuendo breaks the deadlock in the Netherlands. He absolutely barges his way down the inside-left channel, through rather than past two challenges, and slots across the keeper Vasilis Barkas and into the bottom right. An old-fashioned striker’s goal.
Updated
… the half-time scores are:
Ferencvaros 1-1 Rangers
Utrecht 0-0 Nottingham Forest
Rangers had been leading thanks to an acrobatic Bojan Miovski bicycle kick, but Bence Ötvös equalised at the very end of five additional minutes. File under: Could Be Worse.
Preamble
There are a couple of big games in the Europa League tonight.
Basel v Aston Villa
Celtic v Roma
See? Also in the Conference League Shelbourne welcome Crystal Palace while Aberdeen host Strasbourg, so we’ll keep an eye out for those too. All of those games kick off at 8pm GMT. But what of the ones that started at 5.45pm, such as Ferencvaros v Rangers and Utrecht v Nottingham Forest, you ask? Well …
