15 September 2014
Club
Founded in 1910, Malmo play their home games at the impressive 24,000 seater Swedbank Stadion. The Allsvenskan club have won 17 national championship titles and 14 national cups, making them the most successful side in Sweden in terms of trophies accrued. They are looking to become the first team to retain the league title since Djurgardens in 2003.
Route to UCL
1979 European Cup runners-up Malmo became the first Swedish side since Helsingborgs in 14 seasons to reach the Champions League group stage. They join Juventus in Group A having successfully overcome three qualifying ties by beating FK Ventspils 1-0, going through on away goals against Sparta Prague (4-4) and sweeping aside reigning Austrian champions FC Salzburg 4-2 all on aggregate. This is the first time the Allsvenskan outfit have featured in Europe’s elite club competition since an appearance in the 1990/91 European Cup.
Domestic campaign
With only seven games left of the 2014 domestic campaign, Malmo sit top of the league table with a five-point cushion over AIK. Their record this season reads 14 victories, seven draws and only a couple of defeats but the reigning champions’ state of form has tailed off in recent weeks with only two wins from the last five matches.
Manager
Malmo are currently under the tutelage of Age Hareide, a Norwegian manager who has won league titles in three different countries. During his playing days as a defender, Hareide featured for a whole host of clubs including Molde (whom he later managed), Manchester City and Norwich City as well as the Norwegian national side before confirming his retirement in 1987.
The 60 year-old’s coaching career has seen him triumph in the Allsvenskan with Helsingborgs, the Danish Superliga with Brondby as well as the Tippeligaen with Rosenborg before taking up the reins at Malmo in January 2014. He also has experience on the international front following a five-year spell as Norway coach between 2003 and 2008.
Key Man
Club captain Markus Rosenberg is in his second stint with the Swedish side having rejoined Malmo back in February 2014. The 31-year-old, who has played for some of Europe’s top clubs including Ajax and Werder Bremen, is in red-hot form after scoring ten goals in his last twelve appearances in all competitions and also won the Allsvenskan top scorer accolade back in 2004.
