Latest news with #MadsBechSorensen
BBC News
26-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Sorensen expects Midtjylland to face '20,000' at Easter Road
Midtjylland captain Mads Bech Sorensen says the Danes will be playing "against 20,000" in their Europa League qualifying second leg with Hibernian at Easter Road, with the tie finely poised at 1-1. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription required), externalRead Saturday's Scottish gossip
Scotsman
24-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Hibs Europa League opponents bringing old-fashioned threat to tie
Revealed: The simple ploy central to Midtjylland's swagger Sign up to our Hibs football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Long throw-ins and a solid 4-4-2 formation? Nobody said Hibs would be coming up against the Danish version of big Sam Allardyce in their first Europa League encounter … Cheap laughs aside, it's clear that Thomas Thomasberg's FC Midtjylland side boast a healthy dash of pragmatism in the purist principles that continue to drive last season's Danish Superliga runners-up. David Gray will have been well warned over what to expect. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Yes, of course, our long throws are a big threat,' admitted Kevin Mbabu, the one-time Rangers loanee who, along with Midtjylland captain Mads Bech Sorensen, provides a twin threat with the simplest of set-piece deliveries. Speaking at this club's training ground yesterday, he pointed out: 'We almost scored, I think, two goals this weekend. Of course, it's our aim to have a long throw, to create opportunities. Former Rangers loanee part of dangerous duo 'Whenever we have one around the box, we aim to take it like a corner. Hopefully, we'll get a couple tomorrow to put pressure on the team. 'There is also on the other side our captain that has very long throws as well. So it will come from both sides.' There is more to Midtjylland than merely hurling the ball into the box, of course. Although they have been known to adopt that as a tactic from just about anywhere inside the opposition half. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The skill and swashbuckling sense of adventure brought to the starting XI by top scorer Franculino Dju represents the other side of the Thomasberg blueprint. Still just 21, the Guinea-Bissau forward is already coveted by a number of major clubs – and Midtjylland have stuck a price tag of around 15 million Euros on their prize asset. 'There's no doubt he's amazing,' said club captain Mads Bech Sorensen, the centre-half adding: 'When he's at his best he's unbelievable, and right now he's doing very good for us, and he can change the game out of nothing; he's incredible.' 15 million Euro striker is danger man Supported by strike partner Adam Buksa, Franculino brings real invention to the Midtjylland attack. He scored twice in the disappointing weekend draw with newly-promoted Odense Boldklub – and had another goal disallowed. Watch enough footage of the youngster and you'll recognise a footballer who can do more than just one thing very, very well. This versatility makes him Midtjylland's most dangerous player, clearly. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As a unit, they operate an effective press form the front. Helped by a formation that, while oft derided, covers the pitch with enormous efficiency; done well, a 4-4-2 is still extremely difficult to break down, although it does ask a lot of players. Don't expect Midtjylland to vary too much for this game. Thomasberg believes he has the better team – and won't be doing much tinkering to accommodate Hibs. That may be a mistake … but don't expect Gray to interrupt an opponent veering towards just the slightest hint of complacency. Home side chasing two-goal cushion from first leg Mbabu, asked about his team's ambition for tonight's Europa League second qualifying round first leg here in Herning, said simply: 'It's to win. Ideally, with a two-goal gap, so we can go in Edinburgh with a bit more of a cushion. 'Of course, anything can happen in football. We could win maybe 3-0 tomorrow and lose 4-0 in Scotland, but ideally we want to win and put pressure in Hibs from the start. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "We definitely want to score as early as possible and to take at least a two-goal lead to Scotland. That's our plan - but it never really goes as planned. 'Last year we played in the Europa League until the play-off against Real Sociedad and then we lost against them. Our goal is to go to the group stage and go through the group stage. 'This season we have a more experienced team, and the team is improving. I see the young players that are getting better week after week. We have to try and show that against Hibs.'
Scotsman
23-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Revealed: How Hibs Euro rival's first Easter Road experience whetted appetite
Europa League second qualifying round tie in Denmark tomorrow night Sign up to our Hibs football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Midtjylland skipper Mads Bech Sorensen already has one game against a Hibs XI on his CV. But the Dane would never claim to have been through the full Easter Road experience. The former Brentford centre-half revealed: 'I actually played against Hibs six years ago, so I've been to the stadium once before. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I think it was their reserves we played. I remember it as quite intense. A good match. I can't even remember the results. It was a good experience. 'There was no spectators at all. We played at the stadium but with no crowd. 'It will be a little bit different next week. I hope it will be better from what I've heard. It should be a great atmosphere. Sorensen has experience in UK 'I've played in the UK. I've played a few Scottish sides before. Hopefully, it should help me and the team. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'They all share the same quality. Hard work. They are all hard-working. 'You know it'll never be easy when you play Scottish sides, they'll work hard, they'll be physical, they'll make it a tough day, no matter what. 'But Hibs looks like a tactically good team. They want to play with the ball. They have quite a good flow when they build up. So of course we need to set the pressure on up front.' European success vital to Midtjylland model Midtjylland's status as European regulars is vital to the model of a club founded in 1999. Upstarts, pioneers, new kids on the block, they've built their reputation on achieving success beyond the Danish Superliga. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It's very important, it's one of the main goals every season,' said the skipper, who will lead his team into Europa League action at home to Hibs tomorrow. 'We always go for the championship - and we want to get into the group stages of Europe. 'For that, you need to be consistent. We have a young team but very talented, but we need the consistency to be there to be in Europe every single year.' Midtjylland are motivated by more than just Europe, of course. The disappointment of losing the title to arch-rivals Copenhagen – by just a single point, not less – last season is still very much part of their motivation. So can they compete on two fronts? After dropping points on the opening weekend of league action, with a couple of individual howlers contributing to a 3-3 home draw against newly-promoted Odense Boldklub, it will be a tricky proposition. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Speaking from his club's £20 million training ground, a remarkable facility that includes Midtjylland's own primary school, the usual array of pitches plus a whole heap of facilities shared by everyone, meaning the youngest prospect can bump into the club captain at any time, Sorensen said: 'We want to seek revenge, we want to win the championship, because it was close. 'The year before we did it on the last day, so of course a bit disappointed, but it only motivated us more. We need to have a good season; we need to win the championship back. And we need to do well in Europe as well.'
