Dublin. Djurgården is coming to visit.
But the Norwegians are the best of the bunch, according to Shamrock Rovers.
Molde is the favorite, says coach Stephen Bradley.
The Irish never lose at home, whether in the league or when there is European opposition. This summer alone, they beat Hibernians, Ludogorets, FC Shkope and Ferencvaros at Tallaght.
Djurgarden coach Thomas Lagerlöf knows the stats and takes them seriously ahead of Thursday’s game Europa Conference League-Meeting.
– They are very strong at home.
Shamrock Rovers aren’t the classic British Isles rowdy band either. The Irish are trying to play possession-based football and Djurgården will challenge for possession control.
“Favorite Zoo”
Djurgarden is the favorite, despite Shamrock’s impressive home advantage. Coach Stephen Bradley thinks so.
– Djurgården is my favourite. But we’ve also tested that before. So nothing new for us. We are fine with that. We know we can beat any team.
Which players in Djurgården do you consider to be major threats?
Magnus Ericsson is a good player with high quality. Their left winger (Gustav Wickheim) can be a big danger to us too. Very fast and good at transitions. smart player. Djurgården’s right-backs are good and attacking, especially the right-back (Pyotr Johansson). Then we have their striker (Victor Edwardsen) who scored an amazing goal against APOEL.
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However, Bradley does not consider Djurgarden to be the best team in the group. In fact, it is not even believed that the inhabitants of Stockholm are the sharpest representatives of the Nordic countries.
– I consider Molde a very strong team. They are top of the Norwegian league, ahead of Bodö/Glimt and that says something. Molde is doing well and I would say they are the frontrunners in the group (ahead of Ghent, Djurgarden and Molde).
Thomas Lagerlöf on being the favorite on the set.
It depends on how you look at things. If you look at the European rankings, we should finish last in this group, but if you look at our performance in the summer, we have a good chance. We face three good teams in this group, but none of them are good enough that we can’t beat them if we do well, he says, and get the nod from Magnus Eriksson:
We played six really good qualifying matches. Now we have six more group matches. There are good teams and even in the group, but we have good chances to win all the matches we play here.