Malmö FF has knocked out Glasgow Rangers twice before in European qualifying – in 2011 in the Europa League and in 2021 in the Champions League. On the last occasion, the Scots got to play in the Europa League and made it all the way to the final, where they lost to Eintracht Frankfurt in the spring of 2022.
Now, in the premiere of the new group stage in the Europa League, MFF got a nightmare start at home.
Offered the goal
Already after 56 seconds, Rangers took the lead – after Malmö's left-back Gabriel Busanello made a headless back pass. Striker Cyriel Dessers got a free run, rounded Johan Dahlin in the MFF goal, but hit the post. However, the rebound could be picked up by Nedim Bajrami, and the Albanian sent the ball into the open goal.
Malmö has been a recurring guest in Europe's club team tournaments in the last decade, but when MFF coach Henrik Rydström (took over before 2023) now made his first international appearance with the club, he got to see a weak performance.
Series-leading MFF has kept a clean sheet in four straight Allsvenskan matches, but now Rangers were offered at least two high-quality scoring chances during the first half. Malmö was statically offensive and had only one attempt at a shot.
The Malmö players raised their game after the break. The tempo was increased, the passes were more distinct, and the defense was more stable. But no real payoff in clear scoring chances came from the scene change.
Busanello slipped
Instead, Rangers could extend with a quarter of an hour left to play, and again Busanello was unlucky in a situation. The Brazilian slipped just outside the penalty area, substitute Ross McCausland snatched the ball, and placed it in 2–0 via Dahlin's left post. A goal that settled the final result.
We do well in the game many times, but don't create enough. We knew how they would play, and they score two cheap goals, says Hugo Bolin to Disney+ after the match.
In the new league stage – which consists of 36 teams – in the Europa League, each team meets eight different opponents. For Malmö, Qarabag awaits next Thursday at the Tofiq Bähramov Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan.
September 26: Rangers (home) 0–2
October 3: Qarabag (away)
October 24: Olympiakos (h)
November 6: Besiktas (a)
November 28: Ferencvaros (a)
December 12: Galatasaray (h)
January 23: Twente (h)
January 30: Slavia Prag (a)
