THE LOWDOWN ON MOLDE

ANALYSIS:

HIBS have discovered their potential opponents in the Europa League third qualifying round.

Should Neil Lennon ’s side progress past Asteras Tripolis, then the winners of Molde v Laci lie in wait.

An aggregate win over the Greeks for Hibs should be celebrated. But a place in the play-off would be no easy feat given who they’d face in the round before. It would likely be Molde, with the Norwegians strong favourites to overcome the Albanians.

No strangers to teams from Scotland that play in green, Molde beat Celtic home and away in the Europa League group stage three seasons ago. Ronny Deila’s side were stunned when the Eliteserien club claimed 3-1 and 2-1 wins, with Kris Commons losing the plot with the Celtic bench.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in charge then and the Manchester United legend remains manager. Molde sit third in the Norwegian top flight, six points behind leaders Brann after 16 rounds of matches. They have won the league three times. Molde play home games at the cool Aker Stadium, with an 11,000-plus capacity.

One player to watch out is Erling Braut Haland, son of former Man City star Alf-Inge. Top scorer Haland, 18, has been scouted by Leeds.

Molde have played 78 times in Europe with a win rate of little more than 30 per cent. They made the Europa League group stage last season before reaching the last 32.

Laci are serious underdogs and qualified having finished fourth in Albania’s top flight. They’ve only played six European ties, with their win over Anorthosis Famagusta in QR1 their first win in UEFA competition.