– He suffered a serious blow, so he was taken to the hospital for a further check. The last thing we heard was that things were getting better, says Molde coach Erling Moe to news. Just over fifteen minutes had passed when Knudtzon and Kaasa clashed in a head duel and both went down for the count. Knudtzon was bleeding profusely and was clearly shaken by the blow. The doctors spent just over eight minutes bandaging Knudtzon, who changed the bloody suit and signaled that he wanted to continue the fight. In the end, he was finally taken off the field and replaced by Mathias Løvik. – Did you consider letting him play more? – Yes, you do it until you are told that it won’t work. He wanted to, too. But it was probably best that he left there, says Moe. – Who broke in and stopped it? – It was the doctor who took it in the end. – Incredibly bitter Molde put in a valiant effort and were for a long time the best team in Istanbul on Tuesday night, but eventually lost 1-2 away to Galatasaray. That result means that the blue shirts will once again have to watch the Champions League from the TV room at home. – It is incredibly bitter. It says about the Champions League. Then it’s either heaven or hell, and it didn’t work out this time, says Molde’s Martin Ellingsen. It all turned out in the worst possible way for the Norwegian league champion. Molde created enough chances to win the game, but squandered a number of good opportunities at Rams Park. – Of course we are disappointed. We think we are better than them over two games, so there is a disappointing bunch in the dressing room, says Veton Berisha. VAR drama Superstar Mauro Icardi scored from a penalty after just four minutes, before Eirik Hestad equalized at 1-1 25 minutes before the end. Ten minutes from time, however, Veton Berisha, the 30-million man, thought he had sent the game to extra time with a late goal. But the goal was disallowed for offside. – It is sad. You think that now you have a very good chance of progressing, and then there will be a VAR cancellation. It wasn’t what I thought when I scored, but that’s football, says Berisha to news. Instead, it was the hosts who, against the run of play, increased to 2–1 when a free kick from Angelino hit Martin Ellingsen, changed direction and ended up in the net. It was simply not Molde’s night. – It is really because we are not good enough in both boxes. We concede easy goals and we don’t score on our chances. Through two games we are much better than them, believes Berisha. Erling Moe can be satisfied with much of what Molde achieved in Istanbul on Tuesday evening. Photo: Svein Ove Ekornesvåg / NTB 16th year in a row This is the 16th year in a row that the Champions League is played without Norwegian participation. Not since Rosenborg took part in the 2007/08 season has a team from Norway played a group stage in the world’s most prestigious and prestigious tournament. Even if there will be no Mesterliga group stage at Aker Stadion this autumn, the people of Moldavia can look forward to the next best option: the Europa League. Can face big teams When the group stage is drawn on 1 September, Erling Moe and his men will be guaranteed opposition from a very high international class there too. Liverpool, Brighton, West Ham, Real Betis, Villarreal, Marseille, Roma and Sporting are just some of the formidable opponents who can visit Aker Stadium this autumn. This is how the Europa League group stage is played Matchday 1: 21 September 2023 Matchday 2: 5 October 2023 Matchday 3: 26 October 2023 Matchday 4: 9 November 2023 Matchday 5: 30 November 2023 Matchday 6: 14 December 2023 Source: Uefa.com And although If the Champions League had been even more lucrative, playing in the Europa League also makes money. Molde is already paid around NOK 57 million in bonuses for reaching the playoff round in the Champions League. In addition, Molde, and the 31 other clubs that qualify for the group stage in the Europa League, receive around 43 million in bonus each. Guaranteed 100 million In other words, Molde is guaranteed around NOK 100 million for its participation in the second biggest tournament, official figures from Uefa show. In addition, for each win in the Europa League, Molde will be paid NOK 7.3 million, and for each draw NOK 2.4 million will be paid out. Molde will play six games in the group stage. The winners of the group stage will receive more than NOK 12 million. Second place gets 6.3 million. In addition, there are ticket revenues, TV money and coefficient payments in addition to the sums above. Molde will thus be guaranteed well over NOK 100 million already, before a single match has been played in the Europa League group stage. Penalties, wasted chances and injury bonanza The match itself in Istanbul on Tuesday evening started promisingly, with two big Molde chances. First, Magnus Wolff Eikrem got the ball at the feet of 30 meters when the goalkeeper was on the move, but the Molde captain did not remain calm enough to fine-tune his aim and shot wide from long range. A minute later, Molde countered, national team member Emil Breivik released Ola Brynhildsen, but unfortunately for the blue shirts, he shot over from 10 metres. It was a hectic start to the match, because the match was only four minutes old when Galatasaray received a penalty when Martin Ellingsen brought down Mauro Icardi in the box. – I fall far too late and am not paying enough attention. Then there will be a penalty, and it is fine, admits Ellingsen. The aforementioned Icardi was safe as the bank and scored 1-0 from the chalk mark. And suddenly Molde’s marathon was turned into an ultra race. Hestad scoring The second half began as the first half had for a long time, with an offensive Molde team that created dangers in front of the goal. And this time Eirik Hestad hit better when he equalized at 1-1 with a fine finish after good Molde play 66 minutes into the match. Thus, the Romsdalingen had just under half an hour to score another goal which would equalize the match overall. Barely fifteen minutes before the end, substitute and millionaire Veton Berisha had a giant chance to score. He came alone with Muslera, but from an angle the finish was saved for a corner. Norwegian teams’ attempts to reach the Champions League since 2007: In 2007, Rosenborg qualified for the Champions League group stage after beating Astana and Tampere in the qualifiers. Since then, there have been 15 Norwegian downturns. Just look here: 2008: Fire broke out against Marseille in the third qualifying round. 2009: Stabæk went out against FC Copenhagen in the third qualifying round. 2010: RBK went out against FC Copenhagen in the playoffs. 2011: RBK went out against Viktoria Plzen in the third qualifying round. 2012: Molde went out against Basel in the third qualifying round. 2013: Molde went out against Legia Warszawa in the third qualifying round. 2014: Strømsgodset lost against Steaua București (now FCSB) in the second qualifying round. 2015: Molde went out against Dinamo Zagreb in the third qualifying round. 2016: Rosenborg went out against Apoel in the third qualifying round. 2017: Rosenborg went out against Celtic in the third qualifying round. 2018: Rosenborg went out against Celtic in the second qualifying round. 2019: Rosenborg went out against Dinamo Zagreb in the playoffs. 2020: Molde went out against Ferencváros in the playoff. 2021: Bodø/Glimt went out against Legia Warszawa in the first qualifying round. 2022: Bodø/Glimt went out against Dinamo Zagreb in the playoffs. 2023: Molde in the playoffs. Must beat Galatasaray on Tuesday night to qualify. VAR cancellation Ten minutes before the end, Berisha thought he had put Molde up 2-1, but in dramatic fashion the goal was correctly canceled for offside. Instead, it was Angelino who decided the game with a free kick from long range in overtime. Thus it ended 2-1, a result that will probably annoy the Moldensians for a long time. The Norwegian team deserved better.
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The championship dream burst – Molde to the Europa League – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
