Legia Warsaw vs Molde

Molde will take the trip to Polish capital Legia Warsaw on Thursday evening to defend their 3-2 lead from the first leg of the Conference League tie.

The approaching quarter-finals present both teams with standout prospects to advance to the following round of the competition.

The visitors appeared to have sealed this tie after scoring three first-half goals for the 3-0 lead at halftime of the first leg however Legia managed two goals in the second half that has made the return leg competitive.

Since December 7 Molde has exited competitive matches following their Norwegian Cup defeat to Fredrikstad while the Norwegian Eliteserien starts this year only in March.

Erling Moe departed from Molde management at the season conclusion and Per-Mathias Hogmo took over as the new head coach at Aker Stadion.

Following their second consecutive fifth-place finish along with their defeat in the Norwegian Cup final to Fredrikstad stadium authorities decided to adapt a different managerial approach.

Before Hogmo took over Molde faced difficulties during their league season in Conference League where their knockout phase playoff status remained unseeded due to their 23rd place league finish.

The Norwegian side avoided elimination during the playoff round when they defeated Shamrock Rovers 1-0 in Aker Stadion but then won the away match and secured the tie by winning on penalties.

The history books undoubtedly favor Hogmo's team before the game in Warsaw, but this time around, Molde leads going into the second leg.

When the two teams faced off in the competition's knockout round playoffs last season, Molde barely defeated Legia in the home leg, giving them a 3-2 advantage that is similar to their current one.

Last season, Molde easily won the second leg in Poland with a score of 3-0, guaranteeing a resounding 6-2 triumph overall. This season, they will be looking to match that score.

They will be hoping to advance at least one level this season by making it to the quarterfinals after their Conference League odyssey ended in the next round when they fell 4-2 on aggregate to Club Brugge.

Due to his suspension, Luquinhas will not play for the hosts. The Brazilian star scored for Legia in their loss to Molde last week, and the Polish team will be much missing him. In other news, Jan Leszcynski (cruciate) and Radovan Pankov (hamstring) continued to be out due to injury, severely hurting the home team. Casper Oyvann is set to miss this match for the visitors because of a knee injury, but the rest of the team is healthy. Isak Helstad Amundsen's return, who was suspended for the first leg following his red card against Shamrock Rovers in the previous round, will help Molde.