Malmo. First it exploded in MFF.
Then it was stormy in Malmö.
Then Braga came and blew Åge Hareide into a comeback dream.
It would be an exaggeration to say that Braga blew up Malmo FF Off the field when he stayed at 2-0.
Sure, you can point to Dennis Hadzikadyunic’s half chance of scoring in a free kick right before Braga 1-0, Jo Inge Berget’s chance right before the quarter-final from Braga 2-0, or listen to Anders Christianen who thinks teams created many clear chances. But it wasn’t unexpectedly a class difference tonight and nothing else.
Croatian referee Douji Strukan also sounded the siren, with some mixed successes, but mostly he managed to finally achieve them with the help of the VAR.
Average age 30.4 years
Malmö FF restarted for the second time in just over a month, conditions for MFF 3.0 in 2022 and Aji Haredi could have been even worse as club and team: Europa League premiere without results-related requirements against Portuguese second-placed Braga , who started their season very well and came from a very different August from Malmö. The severely injured MFF has entered a match without being a favourites for the first time this year and can focus more on defending something (point) rather than winning the match. Putting off a rather nice start.
With his charisma (he received a standing ovation from the VIP crowd at the stadium’s restaurant when he was interviewed there before the match), poise and enthusiasm – and his straighter playing – Hareide attempted to re-create a European nocturnal charm from the past. He changed eleven and nominated a lot of favorites from the past.
The 68-year-old put all summer signatures off the bench (the conspirator will read a statement there), invested in Oscar Lewicki who hasn’t played a minute since the cup final in May and sent 11 starting points in a 5-4-1 formation with an average age of 30.4 year (then Johann Dahlin and Ola Toivonen were on the bench). Even Jonas Knudsen, of Hareide’s WC 2018 with Denmark, was allowed into the second half.
But aside from an additional 1,000 tickets sold and a team that may have shown a little more desire than it has lately, Hareide’s immediate impact was absent. Incidentally, the audience figure of 13.721 was the worst MFF in the European game in eleven years.
This was not a measure of where the MFF was standing or heading under Hareide. Instead, the next matches will be in Allsvenskan.
Confirm the danger
Strong MFF not to give up more big chances in open play against such a good team. But it’s more annoying than conceding goals from set pieces, especially the 0-1 goal from a corner kick, in this type of match. This discomfort was also evident in everyone, from Hared and “down”. After subtly defending on corner kicks this year, the MFF has now conceded corner goals in two consecutive games.
Interestingly, Hareide is using the Europa League premiere to match Oscar Lewicki. After that, the Norwegian explained that it was important to “get a better display in the team”. Maybe that says something about how he’s seeing some of the MFF midfield injuries at the moment. But he could also make amends when the already injured Erdal Rakib left after 20 minutes and won’t play for a while.
He also chose to pick up Isaac Sack Thelin in the first half to save him.
– I have to look beyond this match.
The French Football Federation missed the really big clubs in the draw, but after Royal Union Saint-Gilloise went to Germany and defeated Bundesliga 4 Union Berlin 1-0 this evening, what we feared was confirmed: that Malmo finished in one of the toughest groups in the world. European League.
Five straight yellow cards at the MFF premiere. Some of them are strongly condemned but are unnecessary. It can be expensive in the long run.