NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) – Thursday’s Europa League fifth round matches will include two rematches of past European Cup finals.
Nottingham Forest’s home is Sweden’s Malmö FF, who lost 1-0 to the English side in the 1979 European Cup final in Munich and retained the title the following year, although they were a semi-professional team.
Forest have invited players from both 1979 teams to greet fans before the Europa League match at the City Ground.
legendary forward Trevor Francis, who headed the game’s only goal in the final 46 years ago, died in 2023.
Forest were boosted by Saturday’s 3-0 Premier League win over Liverpool at Anfield and are aiming for their second Europa League win of the season under new manager Sean Dyche. Malmö hasn’t won yet.
Feyenoord will also face Celtic, whom they defeated in the 1970 European Cup final.
Both teams are struggling in the second division of the Europa League and need three points to advance to the knockout stages. Feyenoord are 29th out of 36 teams, Celtic 27th.
Aston Villa will be aiming for their fourth win in five games against Switzerland’s Young Boys, who lost 3-0 to the English team in Bern in last season’s Champions League.
Europa League leaders Midtjylland visit Serie A pacesetters Roma, looking to bounce back from two defeats at home.
In other matches, Real Betis take on Utrecht, Maccabi Tel Aviv take on Lyon and pointless Rangers take on Braga.
In the Third Division Conference League, Crystal Palace will face Strasbourg, while Fiorentina will face AEK Athens.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
