With Hiljemark at the helm, Elfsborg has transformed into one of the top teams in Allsvenskan. Something that has also been noticed in Europe.
But in the Europa League playoffs, penalties were required to separate Elfsborg and Molde. For despite occasional massive pressure, the Borås team – which won the first meeting 1-0 last week – failed to break through the Norwegians during regular time.
We played an extremely well-executed football match. My feeling is that we're in the driver's seat and should have finished off the match, says Hiljemark.
Goalless Extra Time
Instead, it was former Hammarby striker Veton Berisha who scored the first – and only – goal in the second half.
They made a brilliant attack. Sometimes you just have to say well done, and after that, Isak makes two extremely important saves, says Oscar Hiljemark.
The subsequent extra time ended goalless, which meant a total of 1-1 over both matches. Therefore, a penalty shootout was required.
In front of a wildly cheering home crowd, goalkeeper Isak Petterson saved a penalty while Molde's Eirik Hestad shot over. Niklas Hult then secured the win for Elfsborg.
Rain of Millions
Thanks to the result, Elfsborg has secured around 50 million kronor for participating in the Europa League group stage. Additionally, millions more will be earned for wins, draws, and TV deals.
The draw for the group stage takes place on Friday. There, Elfsborg could be pitted against teams like Manchester United, Tottenham, Roma, Lazio, or Porto.
I hope for the worst possible opponents. We're going to advance, says Elfsborg's club director Stefan Andreasson.
Performance-based earnings in the Europa League:
Starting sum: 49.1 million kronor (4.31 million euro)
Won match: 5.1 million kronor (450,000 euro)
Drawn match: 1.7 million kronor (150,000 euro)
Placement 1-8 in the league: 6.8 million kronor (600,000 euro)
Placement 9-16: 3.4 million kronor (300,000 euro)
Place in playoff to quarterfinals: 3.4 million kronor (300,000 euro)
Quarterfinals: 19.9 million kronor (1.75 million euro)
Semifinals: 47.9 million kronor (4.2 million euro)
Final spot: 79.8 million kronor (7 million euro)
Winning the final: 68.4 million kronor (6 million euro)
Bonus for league placement: A total sum is divided into 666 equal shares, where the winner receives a maximum of 36 shares and the worst-placed team receives 1 share. Each share is valued at approximately 855,000 kronor (75,000 euro).
+ There is also money from the so-called value pot, which collects money from TV deals sold in Europe and the rest of the world.
+ Elfsborg also receives money for the first three qualifying rounds (not the playoff round) of around 6 million kronor in total (175,000 euro per qualifying round).
+ Malmö FF qualified for the Europa League via a loss in the playoff to the Champions League and receives 48.9 million kronor (4.29 million euro) extra as a consolation prize, but no payment for participating in the earlier qualifying rounds.
Note: Exchange rate from August 27, where 1 euro corresponds to approximately 11.34 kronor.
