Malmö v Atlético background
Monday, October 27, 2014
Article summary
Malmö FF will look to make amends for their 5-0 Group A defeat at Club Atlético de Madrid when the teams meet again in Sweden on matchday four.
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Malmö FF will look to make amends for their 5-0 defeat at Club Atlético de Madrid when the teams meet again in Sweden on matchday four.
• Group A leaders Atlético would move six points clear of their hosts with victory at Malmö New Stadium. Conversely, Malmö – whose loss in Madrid was their biggest European defeat in 44 years – would climb back level on points with Atlético should they win the game.
Previous meetings
• Luis Aragonés scored in both legs when Atlético defeated Malmö 5-1 on aggregate in the first round of the 1966/67 European Champion Clubs' Cup, winning 2-0 away then 3-1 in Spain.
• That remains the only time either club had faced opponents from the other country before this season.
Match background
Malmö FF
• Åge Hareide's side have won their last three European home fixtures, including the 2-0 victory over Olympiacos FC on matchday two.
• Qualifiers included, they have not conceded a goal at home in 360 minutes in this season's UEFA Champions League – a run including the qualifying round games against FK Ventspils (0-0), AC Sparta Praha (2-0) and FC Salzburg (3-0).
• Overall, the Swedish champions are unbeaten at home in eight games in UEFA competition, having kept a clean sheet in each of them.
• Malmö are Sweden's first group stage representatives since Helsingborgs IF in 2000/01.
Club Atlético de Madrid
• In putting five goals past Malmö, Atlético recorded their biggest European victory since beating NK Maribor 6-1 at home in the 1992/93 European Cup Winners' Cup first round.
• Atlético are looking for their first away points in Group A after losing their first match on the road 3-2 at Olympiacos on matchday one.
• They were unbeaten in all six UEFA Champions League away games in 2013/14, when they won at FC Porto, FK Austria Wien, AC Milan and Chelsea FC.
Coach and player links
• Diego Simeone was an unused substitute as Argentina were eliminated from the 2002 FIFA World Cup by a 1-1 group stage draw with Sweden.
• As Helsingborg coach, Hareide lost twice to Levante UD (0-1a, 1-3h) in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League group stage. With Rosenborg BK in 2003/04, he suffered a UEFA Champions League third qualifying round defeat by RC Deportivo La Coruña (0-0h, 0-1a)
• Markus Rosenberg spent 2010/11 with Real Racing Club and faced Atlético twice, drawing 0-0 away then hitting the winner in a 2-1 home success on 10 May 2011.
• In the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League, Rosenberg scored in SV Werder Bremen's 3-2 group stage win over Real Madrid CF, having earlier lost 2-1 in Spain. In 2009/10 he helped Bremen beat Athletic Club twice (3-1h, 3-0a) in the UEFA Europa League group stage – scoring in Bilbao – before the German side lost to Valencia CF in the last 16.
• Arda Turan's Galatasaray AŞ lost against Helsingborg in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage (2-3h), but Arda was in the Turkey team that beat Sweden 2-1 in a friendly in March this year.
• Markus Halsti played against Mario Suárez and Koke in Finland's 2-0 home loss to Spain in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier in September 2013. Halsti had also appeared as a late substitute in Finland's 1-1 draw in Gijon.
• Ricardinho and Miranda came through the youth ranks together at Coritiba together.
• Antonio Durán coached Malmö to four Allsvenskan titles between 1965 and 1971. The Spaniard had won two leagues as an Atlético player between 1948 and 1952.
Match facts
Malmö
• Malmö ended the Allsvenskan season with a 2-1 defeat at Åtvidabergs FF on Saturday. Anton Tinnerholm opened the scoring against the club he left in July.
• Malmö finished six points clear of second-placed IFK Göteborg with the record: P30 W18 D8 L4.
• As 2014 Allsvenskan champions, Malmö were presented with the Lennart Johansson trophy after their 2-0 home win against IF Brommapojkarna on 27 October.
• The Blues clinched the Swedish championship with three rounds to spare, a 3-2 victory over AIK Solna on 5 October ensuring they became the first team since 2003 to successfully defend the title.
• Malmö scored in all 15 of their home league games in 2014. The only visiting teams to have kept a clean sheet at Malmö New Stadium this year are Ventspils (16 July, 0-0) and Helsingborgs IF (1 May, 0-2, Swedish Cup).
• Magnus Eriksson was the only player to feature in all of Malmö's league matches this season.
• Goalkeeper Robin Olsen, defender Filip Helander, midfielder Emil Forsberg and forward Rosenberg have been nominated in their respective positions for the annual Swedish football awards.
Atlético
• Mario Mandžukić's first-half goal secured Atlético a 1-0 success at Getafe CF on 26 October.
• Mandžukić was on target again on Saturday as the Colchoneros won for the seventh time in eight games, 4-2 at home against Córdoba CF.
• Simeone's team have 23 points from ten matches this season, four points less than they had at the same stage a year ago.
• Tiago (bruised thigh) and Cristian Ansaldi (hamstring), who was an unused substitute at the weekend, have sat out Atletico's last three fixtures.
• Simeone received the coach of the year accolade on 27 October at the annual LFP (Liga de Fútbol Profesional) awards ceremony. The 44-year-old has been nominated for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men's Football, with the three-strong shortlist to be announced on 1 December and the winner on 12 January.
• Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois, instrumental in Atlético's Liga title success last season, are among 23 players in the running for the FIFA Ballon d'Or.