On February 18th, we went to see the UEFA Europa League match against between Sevilla and Molde with some friends Wyatt and Cesar tagging along. The game took place at Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium in Sevilla, so Molde would be coming in to look for some key away goals in this first leg.
The game had a more international and exotic flair than the English games we had seen prior with the commentary being proved in both Spanish and Norwegian for the player introductions and subs. The stage was set for an exciting game and we were hoping to see a bit more than a 1-0 finish.
Molde held their own for the opening 35 minutes and seemed to know they were outclassed, but once Fernando Llorente scored in the 35th scoring back seemed to be a more difficult task. Llorente added another after the restart in the 42nd before Kevin Gameiro, subbing out Llorente, scored another in the 72nd. Molde never had the possession or the technical skill to score any goals, so they will be playing the second leg in Norway with a 3-0 deficit to fill. Sevilla were most likely coming into the game as the favorites. Tabling at 6th in La Liga and coming off a Europa League championship the last two years provided all the confidence they needed.
The Molde fans were not without their own songs and spirit in the face of a 3-0 failure. Their fans were shirtless and waving a large Molde flag, and their go-to chant was “Molde, Molde”, which was also quite catchy. Overall, the game was a welcome heating up of the action and the weather.The crowd was electric even though it was less than sold out. They has some very catchy chants like “Sevilla, Sevilla, Sevilla” and loved the drawn out yelling of “Gol”. Then in the second half they took to taking out their phone flashlights and lighting the stadium up like a rock concert giving the game a more collective experience as a spectator.
