Red Bull Salzburg has not lost any points after the third game of the season in the Bundesliga. The runners-up won the big match against LASK on Saturday with 1:0 (0:0) and are three points ahead of defending champion Sturm Graz in the table. For coach Pep Lijnders’ team, it was a successful dress rehearsal before the Champions League play-off first leg in Lublin against Dynamo Kiev. For Linz, there was no success before the start of the Europa League play-off.
LASK currently not in form
After the surprising 1:2 defeat in the Raiffeisen Arena against Altach, it was the second defeat in front of their own fans in a row. Only three points and eighth place are the meager result. There is not much confidence to take into Thursday’s home game against FCSB Bucharest. The situation is completely different for former serial champions Salzburg. In the sixth competitive game under Lijnders, they recorded their fifth victory. This was secured by Moussa Yeo (64th), a player who had just been substituted on. The Dutch coach’s rotation principle worked perfectly. On Wednesday, a higher hurdle awaits in Poland.
APA/EXPA/JFK Pep Lijnders praised his team after the draw at Twente.
“Crazy” and “unbelievable”: Pep raves about his bulls
The 3-3 draw against Twente in the second leg of the third qualifying round of the Champions League felt more like a victory for Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday evening. In the end, they secured …
As expected, Lijnders opted for rotation. Compared to the 3:3 draw at Twente Enschede, which secured promotion to the Champions League play-offs on Tuesday, there were five changes to the starting eleven. Right-back Amar Dedic was given a break at the start, as were midfielders Mads Bidstrup and Lucas Gourna-Douath and strikers Yeo and Oscar Gloukh. Ignace van der Brempt, Nicolas Capaldo, Mamady Diambou, Adam Daghim and Petar Ratkov benefited from the changes.
Boateng substituted in defeat against Salzburg
Coach Thomas Darazs gave Linz, with one exception, the eleven that had messed up against Altach, a chance to do better. Lenny Pintor replaced former Salzburg player Valon Berisha, who had a heel injury, on the left wing. Former German national team defender Jerome Boateng made his first appearance. He initially saw a brisk start from the bench, with both teams playing boldly forward.
The guests gained a slight advantage and also had a small advantage in chances. A Ratkov header after a Terzic cross went wide (20th minute), as did a Daghim shot after a careless loss of the ball by Milos Jovicic (22nd minute). On the other side, only Robert Zulj posed a threat with a shot, but Janis Blaswich was able to deflect the ball for a corner (28th minute). The German was preferred over ÖFB team goalkeeper Alexander Schlager, who was back in the match squad for the first time after his injury break.
After the restart, the 15,700 spectators initially waited in vain for top chances, but after Salzburg made three substitutions after half an hour, that changed. Melayro Bogarde lost the ball in the penalty area, Gloukh broke through on the side and Yeo converted his pass into the near corner from a tight angle. The two substitutes used the outside of their feet and were quicker to react than their opponents. Bidstrup, a third “joker”, immediately took center stage, but Tobias Lawal was able to clear his shot (67′).
Kamil Piatkowski saves Bulls lead
Linz then briefly pressed for an equaliser, but Kamil Piatkowski was just able to prevent Marin Ljubicic from scoring, and Adil Taoui was unable to get the follow-up shot on target from a good position (80th minute). Dedic, who came on in the 68th minute, could have made it all clear for Salzburg, but he was stopped by Lawal (83rd minute). Boateng, who had been substituted in the 81st minute, was already on the field for LASK. After the 3:2 win at GAK and 5:1 against Blau-Weiß Linz, Salzburg again picked up three points. In contrast to the 7:1 win in the last duel with LASK on the last matchday of last season, they had a lot more trouble this time.
LASK – Red Bull Salzburg
(Source: APA)
