Our next opponents: Molde arrive as cup winners

There were celebrations galore in Molde at the weekend as they brought home the domestic cup in Norway for the sixth time in their history, after coach Erling Moe’s side beat freshly crowned league champions Bodo/Glimt 1-0 in Oslo. The golden goal came in the 89th minute through striker Frederik Gulbrandsen.

Fifth place in the league

After the final whistle, the team first celebrated with the fans in the stadium before taking the party back to the people of Molde in the evening. It was a nice end to a season that perhaps didn’t quite go to plan as the reigning Norwegian champions only finished fifth in the Eliteserien to miss out on European qualification. Their final game of the league campaign a fortnight ago was a 1-1 draw with 11th-placed HamKam. It was ultimately a meaningless game given they finished 10 points off the top three and Europe, and 19 behind new champions Bodo/Glimt. However, winning the cup will see them enter the first rounds of qualifying for the 2024/25 Europa League.

Second still within reach in Group H

It meant their attentions turned to that cup final, but now focus is now on the final game of the Europa League group stage. Molde still have it all to play for, coming into Matchday 6 with seven points in third place. They are only behind second-placed Qarabag on their head-to-head record. The Norwegians looked set to go ahead after coming from 1-0 down to lead through two late Kristian Eriksen goals late in their Matchday 5 encounter, but the Azerbaijani side grabbed an equaliser five minutes into added time.

It all means that the Norwegians must achieve a better result at the BayArena than Qarabag do at home to Häcken on Thursday. That would see them claim second place and through to the play-off rounds. Otherwise, Molde will be into the Conference League play-offs.

Eriksen level with Boniface

Molde proved on their artificial pitch back in October that they can be really awkward opponents. Early goals from Jeremie Frimpong and Nathan Tella put Xabi Alonso’s side on course for the 2-1 win, but the hosts made a good showing of things in the second half, with Matej Kovar denying Magnus Eikrem, and Eric Kitolano striking the post. A late goal from Emil Breivik set up a tense finish, with an excellent Kovar stop earning the Werkself all three points in Norway.

Molde then went on to win both games against Häcken, scoring eight goals across the 5-1 and 3-1 victories. Their 11 goals this campaign is second to Bayer 04 in Group H with 14. Eriksen is their top scorer with four of his own, placing him on a par with Victor Boniface.