Trebor Mahtal continued his unexpected European success by leading Molde FK to an unlikely Europa Conference League success in 2043. However, the Norwegian title remained elusive, leading him to stay in the Scandinavian nation for a third season.
Mahtal had done a great job financially at Molde, but the club decided to do their bit to threaten his efforts by building a new stadium. The 27,194-capacity Molde Stadium will cost £36.5m and will be funded with a £33m loan paid off at £330k per month on top of the existing £29m debts – when they could have simply moved into the empty Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Park. But, given the stadium won’t be completed until 2047, Mahtal was unlikely to be around to see it.
Mahtal set about strengthening the core of his team with wonderkid midfielder Wladyslaw Glik for £2.8m from Rakow, attacker Emil Petrov for £2.5m from Slavia Sofia and centre back Ney for £5m from Sporting. Mahtal struggled to pin down a formation at the end of last season, but the addition of Glik moved him towards a relatively standard 4-3-3. That sees the pacey David Muñoz shift over to the right as an inside forward with Glik and the improving Rudi Nordhagen, who’d had interest from Milan, providing a dynamic midfield duo and new captain Bernt Gunnar Siira Sivertsen and Fabián Otero competing to lead the line.
Europa League Challenge
Molde’s Conference League success sent them directly into the Europa League league phase, which began at the end of last season. They opened up with Muñoz scoring the only goal at home to Italian giants Juventus. That was followed by a replay of the ECL Final in a 0-0 at home to Iraklis before losing 2-1 at CSKA-Sofia, beating Zurich 2-0, losing 2-0 at Villarreal and drawing 2-2 at Osijek. They resumed by kicking off 2044 with two home games. Midfielder Christer Fredriksen edged a deserved 2-1 win over SJK before centre back Magnus Lagnø nicked a 1-1 with Sporting. That saw Molde finish in a creditable 14th on 12 points, 3 points behind 8th-place CSKA.
The playoff round occurred two months before the Norwegian league kicked off and paired Molde with Basel. Ney led a solid defensive effort on his debut to earn a 0-0 in Switzerland before midfielder Ilian Mihaylov’s 84th-minute goal secured a 1-0 aggregate win. A much tougher draw followed as they faced Sporting in the last 16. A terrible home leg saw the two sides share four shots and draw 1-1 with Sporting equalising in the 95th minute before the hosts deservedly won 1-0 back in Portugal.
Targeting The Norwegian Title
Mahtal’s transfer business went down well with the bookies, who made Molde 12/5 favourites for Eliteserien ahead of Rosenborg (4/1), Vålarenga (9/2), Brann (6/1) and holders Lillestrøm (13/1). Molde faced a tough opening game at home to Molde but sent a warning out to the league with a 5-1 demolition led by braces from Siira Sivertsen and winger Kasper Kvalsund. Muñoz followed suit with a brace in a 3-1 win at Junkeren before drawing 1-1 at Rosenborg in a game they bossed by 17 shots to 10. And a good start continued amid some tough fixtures as Glik scored his first goal in a 3-0 win over Vålarenga.
The strong form continued through an unbeaten nine games, including Glik scoring both in a 2-0 win at home to Bodø/Glimt that saw Mahtal pass 100 games in charge of Molde. However, he then lost eight players to EURO 2044, including goalkeeper Thomas Einang, Langø, Fredriksen, Kvalsund and Nordhagen playing for Norway as they lost 2-1 to England in the semi finals.
In their absence, Petrov stepped up with a brace to defeat Fredrikstad 3-1, Muñoz grabbed the only goal at Viking, and Petrov and Otero downed Ullern 2-0. The Norwegian heroes returned to earn a 2-0 win at struggling Sarpsborg before star wingers Kvalsund and Muñoz took down surprise 2nd-place side Strømsgodset, which took them 8 points clear at the halfway point of the season.
Muñoz attracted massive interest as the European summer transfer window opened, including a Barcelona bid worth over £60m. Mahtal didn’t see any point in selling him, which got him a bit grumpy, but Muñoz used that anger to smash four goals past Lillestrøm in a 5-1 win. But the striker eventually dropped his unhappiness – oddly when Damac dropped their interest – and Mahtal made him the highest-paid player on £31k per week.
Molde’s unbeaten start finally ended at 17 games with an unlucky 1-0 loss at Brann but Muñoz celebrated his new contract with a brace to down rivals Rosenborg 3-1. Glik then bagged a brace in a 3-2 win over Rosenborg and scored the only goal at home to Odd, which opened up an 11-point lead with 10 games remaining. Muñoz scored two more in a 3-0 win at home to Åsane before a surprise 2-1 loss at Sogndal.
An international break gave them a chance to hit rest and they returned with Kvalsund scoring the only goal at home to Viking, which moved them 14 points clear as 2nd-place Ranheim lost. That set up Molde’s first opportunity to win the title as they entertained Ranheim a week later. Molde started brightly as Glik won a penalty, only for Muñoz to miss it. But the Ecuadorian quickly made up for it by slamming home from close to the penalty spot then crossing for Kvalsund to double the lead inside 25 minutes. Ranheim didn’t even have a shot in the first half and Molde continued to dominate with Muñoz doubling his tally to seal a 3-0 win.
Molde were Champions of Norway!
Molde finished the campaign in style and won the league by a massive 23 points from Stromsgødset! They finished on 80 points, which is 10 more than any champion achieved in any season in this save, after a league record-equalling 26 wins and just 2 draws and 2 defeats, scoring 70 and only conceding 17. Muñoz was the best player in the league with 24 goals, 12 assists, 12 MOTM awards and a 7.94 average rating, Nordhagen chipped in with 11 assists and Einang led the way with 14 clean sheets.
A Record-Breaking Season At Molde
Mahtal led Molde to the best season in club history as they racked up a new record 80 points and 26 wins en route to winning the Norwegian title in addition to last season’s ECL victory. The decision to play Muñoz wide was very much justified as the Ecuadorian was an absolute sensation this season. He surpassed every club record going as he scored 34 with 14 assists and a 7.71 average rating in 45 games. Kvalsund also impressed with 16 goals followed by Siira Sivertsen (15), Melissanidis (10) and Glik (9). But Nordhagen beat Muñoz to the assists record with 19 followed by Glik and left back Atle Dalby (10), right back Gerardo Navarro (8) and Kvalsund (7).
Mahtal’s contract expired in December 2044, giving him a big decision to make. He was genuinely enjoying his time at Molde and felt he was building a really special young squad. However, he had realistically achieved everything he could at the club and nearly every player at the club was wanted by teams across Europe and Saudi at the end of the season, so he was also tempted to stand down and seek a new challenge when his contract expired.
Eventually, the benefits of the latter outweighed those of the former so on 1 January 2045, Trebor Mahtal resigned as Manager of Molde. He departs the club after 1,088 days and 141 games – the third-longest reign of his career behind Djurgårdens (188 games) and Panathinaikos (173 games – of which he won 93, drew 30 and lost 18 as his sides scored 284 and conceded 123.
Where would Mahtal end up as he went in search of the 13th club on his EuroTrip adventure? Join us on Monday to find out!
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