Modest Malmo aim for third on Champions League debut
MILAN (Reuters) - Malmo reached the final of the old European Cup in 1979 but the Swedish champions are aware that the days of such fairytales are well in the past and have more modest aims on their debut in the Champions League group stage.
The club where Zlatan Ibrahimovic began his career visit Juventus on Tuesday (1945 BST) and will be happy to finish third in their four-team group as they end Sweden’s 14-year absence from the competition.
"It was fantastic to watch the draw and see ourselves in such exalted company," said Age Hareide, their 60-year-old Norwegian coach, after his side also landed Atletico Madrid and Olympiakos in Group A.
"It will be a real challenge for us. Third place in the group means that one arrives at the round of 32 in the Europa League. We'd like to get two matches next year too."
Malmo, who came through three rounds of qualifying matches and have already played six European ties this season, have never come close to emulating 1979, when they lost 1-0 to Nottingham Forest in the final in Munich.
The best they have managed since then have been two appearances in the second round of the European Cup, in 1989/90 and 1990/91.
The club's philosophy is now based on home-grown players and the team which started with a 3-0 win over Salzburg in the playoff had an average age of 24, including six players aged 26 years or under.
One of the few exceptions is 31-year-old striker Markus Rosenberg, who has returned to the club after spells with Ajax Amsterdam, Werder Bremen and West Bromwich Albion and scored six goals in the qualifiers.
Their entire squad, which includes only five non-Swedish players, is worth around 12 million euros (9.5 million pounds), according to the Transfermarkt website, less than the 20 million euros Juventus paid for Spanish striker Alvaro Morata alone.
Juventus, Serie A champions for the past three seasons, have started well under new coach Massimiliano Allegri, who was greeted with scepticism by supporters after being named following Antonio Conte's resignation, and have won their first two Serie A games.
Although Conte is a hard act to follow, his European record was not so impressive and is one area where Allegri can upstage his predecessor.
“I am not surprised at all that we’ve started the season so well," said Allegri after Saturday's 2-0 win over Udinese, where they comfortably overcame the absence of Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal in midfield.
"This squad has physical and technical qualities which mean we can do a lot better. We must improve on how to control the tempo...Playing every three days we have to learn more control to avoid wasting energy."
(Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne, editing by Alan Baldwin)
