Legia Warszawa vs Molde facts

Legia Warszawa welcome Molde for the deciding installment of their UEFA Europa Conference League knockout round play-off tie looking to build on their first-leg revival in Norway.

The Polish side were 3-0 down inside 25 minutes in Norway on 15 February thanks to two goals from Fredrik Gulbrandsen (12, 19) and another from Markus Kaasa (24). However, Josué's 64th-minute volley restored Legia's hopes and a Rafał Augustyniak header seven minutes later left the tie in the balance.

Legia are in the Europa Conference League for the first time this season and finished one point behind Aston Villa in Group E to reach a European knockout round for the first time in six years.

Molde picked up seven points in UEFA Europa League Group H on their way to a third-place finish behind Bayer Leverkusen and Qarabağ and are also at this stage of the Europa Conference League for the first time.

Previous meetings

Legia wins 0
Molde wins 1
Draws 2
Legia goals 3
Molde goals 4

The sides' only previous meeting prior to the first leg came in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. A 1-1 draw in Norway was followed by a goalless stalemate in the Warsaw second leg, sending Legia through on away goals.

Molde's Fredrik Gulbrandsen was sent off in the 74th minute of the first leg in that tie.

Form guide

Legia

Record vs Norwegian clubs: W5 D5 L3 F23 A18
Home record vs Norwegian clubs: W4 D2 L0

Legia were drawn against Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt in the 2021/22 Champions League first qualifying round, progressing thanks to a 5-2 aggregate victory (3-2 a, 2-0 h).

They are unbeaten in their six previous home games against Norwegian opposition, conceding just three goals.

Legia won seven Polish titles in nine seasons between 2012/13 and 2020/21 but finished tenth in 2021/22, therefore missing out entirely on European football in 2022/23. A return to form last season earned them a runners-up spot to qualify for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round.

All three qualifying ties to reach this season's group stage were tight affairs, Legia beating Ordabasy of Kazakhstan (2-2 a, 3-2 h) in the second qualifying round, Austria Wien in the third (1-2 h, 5-3 a) and Midtjylland 6-5 on penalties in the qualifying play-offs (3-3 a, 1-1 h aet).

Legia began this season's Europa Conference League campaign with a 3-2 home win against Aston Villa but went down 1-0 at AZ Alkmaar on Matchday 2. They then beat Zrinjski home and away (2-1 a, 2-0 h) before going down 2-1 in England. That meant they had to avoid defeat at home against AZ in their final match, a 2-0 victory setting up a first European knockout tie since 2016/17.

In that campaign, Legia finished third in their Champions League group to earn a Europa League round of 32 tie against Ajax, losing 1-0 in the away second leg and on aggregate.

They have won four of their six home matches in Europe this season (D1 L1).

Legia's record when losing the away first leg in UEFA competition is W4 L14, with defeat in the most recent tie, against Astana in the 2017/18 Champions League third qualifying round (1-3 a, 1-0 h). Although this is the first time they have been beaten 3-2 in the first match away, three of their four aggregate victories – and five defeats – have come after a one-goal away defeat, most recently against Ried in the 2012/13 Europa League third qualifying round (1-2 a, 3-1 h).

Legia's record in one UEFA penalty shoot-out is W1 L0:
6-5 v Midtjylland, 2023/24 UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying play-offs

Molde

Record vs Polish clubs: W1 D2 L0 F4 A3
Away record vs Polish clubs: W0 D1 L0

Molde's three games against Legia are their only previous meetings against opposition from Poland.

Last season they took part in the Europa Conference League, finishing third in their section behind Gent and Djurgården, their only wins coming against Shamrock Rovers (3-0 h, 2-0 a).

Despite starting their 2023/24 Europa League campaign with defeats away to Qarabağ (0-1) and at home to Leverkusen (1-2), they beat Swedish debutants Häcken home (5-1) and away (3-1) across Matchdays 3 and 4 before a 2-2 home draw against Qarabağ. While a closing 5-1 defeat in Leverkusen ended their hopes of Europa League qualification, they had already done enough to reach a European knockout round for the first time since 2020/21.

That Europa League campaign three years ago featured only Molde's second European knockout win outside of qualifying, and first since a UEFA Cup first round tie against Portuguese side Leiria in 2003/04. In 2021, a 3-3 home draw against Hoffenheim was followed by a 2-0 away win thanks to two Eirik Ulland Andersen goals (20, 90+5).

The Norwegian side won their fifth league title in 2022 to gain qualification to the Champions League second qualifying round where they defeated Finland's HJK Helsinki (0-1 a, 2-0 h). They then beat KÍ Klaksvík of the Faroe Islands (1-2 a, 2-0 h aet) before losing in the play-offs to Turkish side Galatasaray (2-3 h, 1-2 a).

They finished the 2023 Norwegian campaign in fifth place, 19 points adrift of champions Bodø/Glimt.

They did however end their domestic season with a trophy thanks to a 1-0 victory against Bodø/Glimt in the final of the Norwegian Cup on the 9 December, Fredrik Gulbrandsen scoring an 89th-minute winner.

Molde have lost ten of their last 15 away European matches (W4 D1).

In 30 two-legged encounters in UEFA competition in which they were at home in the first leg, Molde have won the first game on 14 occasions and been victorious on aggregate in all but one of those ties.

After being knocked out by Östers in the 1975/76 UEFA Cup first round (1-0 h, 0-6 a), their first ever European tie, Molde have won their last 13 ties after a home first-leg victory, most recently against Hungarian side Kisvárda in last season's Europa Conference League third qualifying round (3-0 h, 1-2 a).

Molde's record in two UEFA penalty-shoot-outs is W1 L1:
6-5 v Qarabağ, 2020/21 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
3-4 v Trabzonspor, 2021/22 UEFA Europa Conference League third qualifying round

Links and trivia

Legia striker Tomáš Pekhart made his first start for Czechia in a 3-0 friendly loss in Norway on 10 August 2011.