A look at Chelsea’s Europa League opponents Malmo

The Swedish side are managed by former Brentford and Leeds boss Uwe Rosler.

Published Feb 13, 2019

Chelsea play Malmo in the first leg of the round of 32 in the Europa League in Sweden on Thursday.

Here, Press Association Sport takes a closer look at Malmo.

Nordic noir

Zlatan Ibrahimovic began his career with Malmo (John Walton/PA)

Renowned Roy

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson won five Swedish league titles with Malmo (Steven Paston/PA)

Boss

Malmo head coach Uwe Rosler is something of a cult hero for Manchester City (Michael Stephens/PA)

Form

The harsh Scandinavian winter means domestic football takes place from spring through the summer and Malmo have not played since beating Turkish side Besiktas in mid-December, instead embarking on a training camp. The Besiktas victory helped to secure runners-up spot in Group I behind Belgium’s Genk. Malmo’s most famous game was the 1979 European Cup final loss to Nottingham Forest. They are bidding to become the first Swedish side to reach the Europa League last 16.