soccer | Braga x Malmo - Nov 03 | 20:00 UTC

[Mat]

Game info Braga x Malmo

 

Betting their last chips in an attempt to survive in the Europa League, Braga receives the eliminated Malmo this Thursday, November 3. The meeting will occur at the Municipal Stadium of Braga, in Braga. It is part of the schedule of the sixth–final – round of the group stage of the 2022/2023 version of the Europa League. The start is scheduled for 20:00 UTC.

 

How does the Europa League 2022/2023 work?

 

The competition's regulations, which have been downsized since the last edition thanks to the creation of the European Conference League, were maintained. With 32 participants, the Europa League has eight groups in its first stage. Each of them has four teams facing each other in a round-trip system. At the end of six rounds, the first two are still in contention for the title.

 

However, the champion of each bracket advances directly to the round of 16. Whoever is in second place goes to the round of 16 stages, in which they will face a 'relegated' club from the Champions League. The third place in each group will have the chance to continue in an international tournament in the second semester. It will be relegated to the European Conference League.

 

Braga

Braga lost the vice-leadership of the group to Union Berlin in the penultimate round of the Europa League group stage. Acting in the German capital, he took 1 to 0. In the match, he spent much more time with the ball (59%). However, the home team showed much greater objectivity when creating offensive plays, leading the finishing statistic by hand (14 to 5). However, they only scored in the 23rd minute of the phase from a penalty executed by Knoche.

 

This left the Portuguese in a difficult position on the final journey. Braga does not depend only on their result to take the second position in the D bracket. They must, obligatorily, defeat Malmo, which would take them to ten points. In addition, he has to hope that Union Berlin does not defeat Saint-Gilloise, in a game that will be played simultaneously on Belgian soil. Braga will have the advantage even if they are equal in the score. They are also on an equal footing in the confrontation, which is the first tiebreaker, but the Portugal team would have a better goal difference in this scenario.

 

On Sunday, October 30, playing as a visitor, Braga beat Gil Vicente 1-0, reassuming the vice-leadership of the Portuguese Championship after 11 rounds. The goal was scored by Medeiros, after a pass by Vitinha, in the 22nd minute and reached 25 points (eight wins, one draw, and two defeats). They are six less than Benfica, leader, and two more than Porto, which with the 1-1 draw with Santa Clara, dropped to the third position.

 

Malmo

Of the 32 clubs participating in the Europa League group stage, only two could not score a point in the first five matches. Aside from Malmo, only Cyprus's Omonia Nicosia has lost all their games. The slightly worse balance and goals put the Swedes in the penultimate position on the tournament leaderboard.

 

Avoiding finishing at the bottom is the only possible motivation for this Thursday's clash, which ends Malmo's international season. Which doesn't even have a chance to aspire to third place and, in this way, try to relocate to the European Conference League. The team is also in the final stretch of the 2022 edition of Allsvenskan, the top division of the Swedish Championship.

 

On Sunday, October 30, they beat Varberg, 5-2, in a match for the competition's twenty-ninth – penultimate – round. It thus interrupted a sequence of eight games without success. There were six defeats and two draws. Malmo occupies a modest seventh position in the Swedish Championship with 45 points (13 wins, six draws, and ten losses). Eighteen points below Hacken, champion of the tournament, and eight points behind Hammarby, third place and last team in the region that distributes places in international competitions in the 2023/2024 season.