Molde take on the visitors Bayer Leverkusen in the round 2 match of UEFA Europa League group stage. The match will be played on Thursday, October 5th at Aker Stadion (Molde).
Molde will attempt to salvage their season through European competitions. Last year, MFK managed to regain the championship title once again. However, in the new Eliteserien campaign, Viking and Bodo/Glimt quickly pulled ahead. Erling Mo's team fell behind them from the start, and it seems they eventually focused on their performances on the international stage, where things finally started to click. In the UEFA Champions League, the Norwegians eliminated two compatriots, HJK and KI Klaksvik, and only then succumbed to Galatasaray in the decisive qualification round – the Turks proved stronger in both legs. Moving to the UEFA Europa League, the Scandinavians put up a decent fight in Baku, but Karabakh scored their only goal, which turned out to be the winner, after the break.
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Bayer, under Xabi Alonso, is starting to justify optimistic forecasts from a year ago. In the autumn of 2022, the Aspirin brought in the Spanish manager to guide the team out of the rut it had fallen into under Seoane (although it's worth noting that it was the Swiss coach who returned the team to the UEFA Champions League before his departure). Last season, they eventually did quite well, reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League and finishing sixth in the Bundesliga. However, the most crucial aspect is that, after a summer overhaul that saw the departure of several stars, the Pharmacists have made a powerful start in their domestic league, competing for the top spot with Bayern Munich, with whom they have shared points. In the UEFA Europa League, they dismantled other Scandinavians, Hacken, in Leverkusen.
Norwegian and German teams will face each other for the first time. Despite Molde's motivation, they are up against a very strong opponent who hasn't had their fill of success. We expect the visitors to win with a -1 goal handicap.
Prediction for the match: Bayer Leverkusen to win with -1.0 handicap.
