Malmö FF has had a tough start to the European Championship with three points from four matches.
It would get worse.
In the absence of Pontus Jansson – the centre-back will not play anymore this year due to an overuse injury – the Scanian club had a nightmare start to the away match against Ferencváros in Budapest, Hungary.
0–1 after eight minutes.
0–2 after eleven.
Both goals were scored by Barnabás Varga – and sloppy play by the guests.
Sloppiness behind the first goal
Centre-back Nils Zätterström and goalkeeper Ricardo Friedrich did not click in their communication, and the sequence ended with Friedrich bringing down Varga.
The Hungarian striker was then cool from the penalty spot and placed the ball in for 1–0.
Three minutes later, Zätterström let Varga in behind, and the 30-year-old showed class by bending the ball into Friedrich's far corner.
MFF got a lifeline in the match when Erik Botheim scored 1–2 on a penalty in the 18th minute, but the uphill climb was already too steep.
A deficit that became impossible to handle after Kadys 3–1 and Ibrahim Cissé 4–1 in the second half.
With three matches left to play – Galatasaray at home on December 12, Twente at home on January 23, and Slavia Prag away on January 30 – Malmö has a long way to go to advance to play after the group stage.
Swedish duo shone
The Europa League evening got, despite Malmö FF's loss, a bit of a blue-and-yellow glow.
National team midfielder Dejan Kulusevski had an assist in Tottenham's home match against Roma, but the London team lost the lead after Mats Hummels' late equalizer, 2–2.
National team teammate Hugo Larsson gave Frankfurt a dream start away against Midtjylland and scored 1–0 just seven minutes in. But it was not until after Omar Marmoush's penalty goal that the German club secured the win, 2–1.
