The Norwegian football club Molde FK is playing David against Goliath with Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League. “Very few people like to play on our artificial turf, especially not the top teams in Europe,” said captain Magnus Wolff Eikrem before the meeting with the Bundesliga leaders on Thursday (9:00 p.m./RTL+).
Wolff Eikrem still sees Molde facing a “tremendous challenge” against “one of the best teams in Europe at the moment”. But the five-time champion (most recently in 2022) has “nothing to lose”.
The Scandinavians have particularly great respect for striker Victor Boniface, who once hunted for goals for Bodö/Glimt in Norway. “He’s a physical monster,” said assistant coach Trond Strande, “we already know him and are looking forward to this duel.”
No wonder: in five competitive games with Bodö, Boniface suffered four defeats against Molde and only won once. His meager return: a single goal.