“Of course there is a state of emergency, things are going on with us,” said Christoph Freund, Sports Director of FC Salzburg, after the 1-0 win over FC Sevilla, which meant that an Austrian soccer team made it into the Champions League round of 16 for the first time. The mastermind who raved about the “greatest day in our club’s history” ended up at the lavish cabin party in the whirlpool, and the players made no secret of their party mood even in lockdown times.
“It was definitely the best evening of my career,” said full-back Rasmus Kristensen with tears in his eyes. Karim Adeyemi spoke of a “great team”. With an average age of 23 years, she is the youngest ever to be promoted to the last 16 of the “premier class”. Head coach Matthias Jaissle is very proud of his boys (“We are totally overwhelmed”), but already has Monday, the day of the draw, in mind. Salzburg will pull a group winner out of the pot. Seven well-known addresses for the two showdowns between mid-February and mid-March are up for debate: Manchester City, Liverpool FC, Bayern Munich, Ajax Amsterdam, Juventus Turin, Real Madrid and Manchester United. The “Red Devils” with superstar Cristiano Ronaldo would be an absolute dream lot for Jaissle.
Ralf Rangnick, the man with whom Jaissle already worked at TSG Hoffenheim, now swings the coaching scepter at the traditional English club. The wire never broke, the two Germans exchanged text messages before the Sevilla match.
Neither gold scorer Noah Okafor nor captain Andreas Ulmer want to be satisfied with what has been achieved. “If you play to zero against such a strong team as Sevilla FC and score, then that is outstanding,” emphasized Ulmer: “We are happy about the promotion, and hopefully the journey will continue.” Dreaming must be allowed, even if the “Red Bulls” are facing caliber without exception.
Source: Nachrichten
