Austria’s soccer champions FC Salzburg missed two match points in the group stage – at 1: 2 in Wolfsburg and 0: 1 in Lille, but in the third and last attempt, the “Red Bulls” should make it into the Champions’ round of 16 for the first time League fold. For the people of Mozartstadt on Wednesday (9 p.m., ServusTV) at home a draw against the Spanish second-placed FC Sevilla is enough to make everything clear.
“We will definitely find more rooms than we did last against Hartberg (2-1, note), that suits our game,” said Salzburg coach Matthias Jaissle, who exudes self-confidence. The 33-year-old German doesn’t want to waste any thought on the worst-case scenario. Should the team around captain Andreas Ulmer lose and at the same time win Wolfsburg with ex-LASK captain Pavao Pervan in goal against Lille, Salzburg would slip from second to fourth place in the table. That would not even leave the consolation of the Europa League, the international trip would be over for this season.
Seville FC, who started as the favorite in first place in Group G, are under even more pressure, for whom a win is mandatory in order to move into the knockout phase of the “premier class”. The lockdown in Austria suits the technically savvy Andalusians. The tailwind of almost 30,000 fans who carried Salzburg to their home wins over Lille (2: 1) and Wolfsburg (3: 1) will not blow tomorrow, the Red Bull Arena will have to remain empty.
“Ups and downs”
It can still be spectacular, the first leg in Seville sends its regards. There the top Spanish club (market value 415.9 million euros) was very well served with the 1-1 draw because the Red Bull ensemble had afforded the luxury of awarding two of three penalties. Karim Adeyemi and goalscorer Luka Sucic from Alkoven failed from the ominous point on September 14th. That shouldn’t have gotten stuck in people’s minds.
“It’s normal with such a young squad to have ups and downs,” said Jaissle, who has to pretend that the central defender Maximilian Wöber, who is injured in the calf, has to play. There is a question mark behind the use of striker Noah Okafor.
“We know that we can create something extraordinary. We give everything for that,” emphasized Jerome Onguene. (mag / alex)
Source: Nachrichten
