Key events
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.
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
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
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 …
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Another disallowed goal, more clear-cut this time as substitute Eddie Nketiah’s effort for Crystal Palace is chalked off for an offside …
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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!
