The last time BK Hacken keeper Peter Abrahamsson played at Pittodrie he had to pick the ball out of his goal five times.
It was a painful experience for the Swedish international stopper when BK Hacken crashed 5-1 to Aberdeen in 2021.
That heavy loss came in the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round first leg.
BK Hacken would win the return 2-0 in Gothenburg –but the tie was already over after that Pittodrie thrashing.
Fast forward two years and Abrahamsson says BK Hacken proved in Gothenburg last week they are an entirely different team.
The Swedish champions were 2-0 up with 15 minutes remaining in their Europa League play-off first leg against the Dons..
Aberdeen hit back with two quick-fire goals late on to draw 2-2 to reignite hopes of qualifying for the Europa League group stages.
The 35-year-old is one of the few players remaining at BK Hacken from that heavy defeat at Pittodrie two years ago.
He is gunning for payback.
Abrahamsson said: “It wasn’t a good night for us then, we let in far too many goals so we will have to do a lot better this time.
“Pittodrie is a big stadium with a good atmosphere.
“I think people will see we are a much better Hacken team this time around and I hope we show that with a win.
“Am I confident we will go through?
“That is our aim.”
BK Hacken’s rapid rise since 2021
Aberdeen’s suffered a Euro hangover from their clash in Gothenburg when drawing 2-2 with St Mirren in Paisley.
However Abrahamsson was beaten four times at the weekend as BK Hacken lost 4-2 away to city rivals IFK Gothenburg on league duty.
The defeat delivered a blow to Swedish champions BK Hacken’s hopes of retaining the Allsvenskan title.
Prior to the weekend BK Hacken were just one point behind league leaders IF Elsborg.
Following the defeat at IFK Gothenburg that gap has now extended to four points after 21 matches.
Dagens match slutar i en förlust på Gamla Ullevi 🐝
Trots en starkare andra halvlek lyckades laget inte vinna matchen. Nu blickar vi fram emot torsdagens bortamatch i Skottland på torsdag 🚀#bkhäcken pic.twitter.com/O2FDV2VQzP
— BK Häcken (@bkhackenofcl) August 27, 2023
The keeper insists that derby defeat should act as a “wake up call” ahead of the showdown with Aberdeen.
He said: “It’s obviously hard for us in the group, we don’t want to lose and especially not a derby.
“Hopefully this was a wake-up call.
“We have to recover and go through what we can do better.
“It will probably be the same fight against Aberdeen, at least, so we have to step it up a notch.”
Remarkable rise under boss Hogmo
Fighting to retain a title won last season is a remarkable turnaround in fortunes from when the Dons faced BK Hacken two years ago.
In 2021 BK Hacken were struggling near the foot of the Swedish top flight and manager Per-Mathias Hogmo had only been in the job for a month when they faced the Dons.
Hogmo completely transformed crisis-hit BK Hacken and led them to the Swedish league title last season, the club’s first top flight league crown.
Earlier this year BK Hacken also won the Swedish Cup.
Keeper Abrahamsson believes the Pittodrie defeat was a catalyst for a major squad rebuild by Hogmo – and upturn in fortunes.
Abrahamsson said: “Two years ago Aberdeen at Pittodrie was one of the manager’s first games.
“He was a new coach and that season was the start of what he’s built.
“That result in Scotland perhaps showed him exactly what was required to change things.
“Last season we improved a lot and we’re on another level than before now.
“He is a very good manager, he has changed the whole club.
“We play a different style and everyone knows what is expected of them now.
“We have better players, we have a lot of exciting young players in our squad now, and a better trainer than before.”
‘We need to defend better at Pittodrie’
Aberdeen shocked the Swedes when battling back from two goals down to secure a draw and deliver another memorable night for the Red Army in Gothenburg.
Barry Robson’s rebuilt Reds flooded forward in the latter stages and were unlucky not to secure a victory.
In the immediate aftermath of the first leg Robson said the Dons could have scored “five or six”.
Abrahamsson, capped twice by Sweden, accepts BK Hacken will have to be tighter at the back in the Granite City.
He said: “It was a tough game but I felt we were pretty good in the first half and created a lot of opportunities.
“But the end of the game was disappointing because we were in a position to win it.
“We will need to defend better defensively in Aberdeen because we gave away two goals against them already, so we will have to improve that.
“Although we lost two goals, overall I don’t think they created too much.
“They did not surprise us, we expected them to play the way they did because they are a good team.
“We knew they had good players who play with a lot of energy.
“They will be like that in the second game too, especially in front of their own supporters.”
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