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Molde - Club: Club Facts

UEFA Conference League

Tomorrow Club kicks off its knockout campaign in the UEFA Conference League with a trip to Molde FK. Read all about our duel with the Norwegian Cup winner in the Club Facts!

The game

Club thus travels again, after moving to Bodø/Glimt in the group stage, to Norway for a Conference League match. For Blauw-Zwart this will be the 356th European match in history, Molde will start match 138. 

For the 46th time Club will face a Norwegian opponent. The six previous confrontations on Norwegian soil yielded varying success, with two defeats, two draws and two wins - including the victory over Bodø earlier in this campaign.

Club is in its first Conference League campaign, but in total it is already sitting on 52 European campaigns. Molde is on its 21st European campaign. For Blue-Black, the Norwegians are the 132nd unique opponent in Europe.

This makes Club's first ever game against Molde FK. Other Norwegian opponents have included Bodø/Glimt, Lillestrøm SK, Rosenborg BK, SK Brann and Vålerenga IF.

The match will take place at Aker Stadium in Molde. It seats 11,249 spectators. The stadium with artificial turf field was inaugurated in 1998. It is located in the south of the city on the "Romsdalsfjord," one of the larger fjords that flows into the Norwegian Sea.

Former players Ethan Horvath, Mushaga Bakenga and Eidur Gudjohnsen played for both Club and Molde.
The best declarer is Maxim De Cuyper. MDC has been a declarer on four occasions. Igor Thiago, in addition to being top shooter in the league, is also the best shooter in Europe for his team with six roses. Vanaken and Skov Olsen are right on his heels with five goals, though.

Our top shooter does have to watch out for a suspension, and he is not alone. Thiago, Mechele and Jutglà are out with yellow cards in the return game at Jan Breydel next week.

Nordin Jackers was the hero in the away game against KRC Genk last Sunday, and may also take his place between the posts again against Molde. If he also starts on Thursday, it will end a run of 33 European matches in a row for Simon Mignolet. The last time our goalie missed a European match was on Oct. 20, 2020 in the Champions League at Zenit Saint Petersburg Field. Ethan Horvath, ex-Molde, then had to replace Mignolet due to covid.

Europe suits FCB well, as it is now on a run of 10 consecutive matches in which it remained unbeaten. The last five games of those were all wins. If Club also wins in Molde, it will match its record of six consecutive wins between 30/09/1999 and 26/10/2000.

The opponent

Molde Futballklubb is a Norwegian club from the central Norwegian city of Molde (population 32,446).

MFK sits at 137 European matches. They matched their best ever result in Europe this season. In the 2021 Europa League, they also reached the 1/8th finals, where they were then eliminated by Granada CF (Esp).

The Norwegians qualified for this season's Conference League by crowning themselves champions last season, which was their fifth national title in club history. This season's competition is also over, with less success for Molde, as they finished fifth. Old acquaintance Bodø became champions. In the cup final, however, Molde was able to give Bodø a run for their money by winning 1-0.

The new season is about to start for Molde, as they open the new soccer season on April 1 with a home game against Strømsgodset IF, Ronny Deila's former team.

MFK's European run, like Club's, has been a long time coming. At the start of the season, they eliminated HJK Helsinki (Finn) and KÍ Klaksvík (Fro) in the Champions League preliminary rounds, but were themselves eliminated by Turkish Galatasaray AS in the final preliminary round.


Molde went through the safety net to the Europa League group stage, where they finished third in a group with Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Ger), Qarabağ FK (Aze) and BK Häcken (Swe). This put them in the intermediate round of the Conference League. The Norwegian competition had been at a standstill for some time during that intermediate round, yet they twice trumped Poland's Legia Warsaw (3-2 and 0-3 victory).

This season, Molde lost Europe twice at home. In the Champions League preliminary round against Galatasaray (1-2) and in the Europa League group stage against Bayer 04 Leverkusen (2-3). Last year Molde also played in the Conference League, where they were in a pool with KAA Gent. In the duels with the Buffaloes, they played a 0-0 draw once, and lost once 4-0. At home, they have never lost to a Belgian team, as KSV Waregem and Standard could not go on to win in Molde either.

Only three foreigners are active at Molde: third goalkeeper Albert Posiadala (Pol) and Danish defenders Valdemar Lund and Anders Hagelskjaer. One of the many Norwegians is Mats Møller Dæhli (28), who played two more seasons for KRC Genk.

Milestones

  • Andreas Skov Olsen can play his 90th game for Club Brugge.
  • Bjorn Meijer and Raphael Onyedika can be in action for Blauw-Zwart for the 75th time. The Nigerian midfielder can also play his 20th European match for Club.
  • Michal Skoras can play his 30th official match for Club.
  • If Kyriani Sabbe is in action, it will be his 20th match for Club.
  • Éder Balanta can play his 25th match in Europe for FCB.
  • Philip Zinckernagel and Michal Skoras can play their 10th European match for Blue-Black.
  • Hans Vanaken can play the 75th European match in his career (68 for Club and 6 for Sporting Lokeren).
  • Casper Nielsen can play his 25th European match (7 for Esbjerg fB and 17 for Club).

The referee

Slovak Filip Glova was designated as referee for Club's first 2024 European match. He will be assisted by Daniel Poláček and Peter Bednár. The fourth official is Martin Dohál. 

The VAR is Swiss Fedayi San, with Michal Očenáš from Slovakia next to him.

Filip Glova is a 36-year-old ref from the eastern Slovak city of Košice. He has been whistling matches at the highest level in his own country for 12 years. Since 2016, he has been active at the international level. It is the first time Glova will be leading a Club match. Previously, he did whistle European matches of KAA Gent (twice) and KRC Genk.

It is the ninth time Club Brugge will play a European match led by a ref from Slovakia.