Red Bull Salzburg – Real Sociedad

Champions League Group Stage Round 2
Salzburg, October 3, 18:45 CET

Austrian champions Red Bull Salzburg are in an excellent position, at least to avoid defeat at home against Real Sociedad, in the second round of the Champions League group stage.

The home fans welcome the match in Salzburg on Tuesday with euphoria. Their club achieved a great triumph against two-time European champions Benfica 2:0 in the first round less than two weeks ago. They are the first team to beat Benfica in Lisbon in a European match in the last three years in the group stage.

Since then, coach Gerhard Struber's team has performed with more confidence: there followed a 4:0 victory over Austria Salzburg in the national cup in which they are defending the trophy, and also 4:0 against Austria Lustenau, away from home, in the Austrian league. Thus, this match against the excellent Basque team Real Sociedad will be the first game in front of their fans, after the historic victory over Benfica.

Spanish Real Sociedad played well overall in a 1-1 draw against European runners-up Inter in the first round. However, the team is now under pressure to achieve a good result on an extremely difficult field in Austria.

Red Bull Salzburg has only one defeat in the last eight European matches in Austria. Omoregie, Fernando, Wallner and Kounfolo Yeo will certainly not play for the hosts in the match, but the Salzburg team is known for having a large number of extremely quality young players. As well as the fact, that they are all very integrated in the recognizable system of high pressing and quick counterattacks.

For Real Sociedad, which last weekend trashed Athletic Bilbao 3:0 in the big Basque derby, the big problem is the injury to fullback, Scottish star Kieran Tierney. He will almost certainly not be able to play due to a hamstring problem. Also, it is unlikely that forward Martin Merquelanz will be recovered for this duel.

The famous veteran, attacking midfielder David Silva, will also not play in this match for Real Sociedad – his recovery is expected only at the beginning of next year. When everything is taken into account, it is clear that the visitors are in more trouble with injuries for this important match.

Due to the importance of the match for both teams, a high number of goals is not a certain outcome, although Red Bull Salzburg is known to be an effective attacking team at home. The hosts are expected to play in a recognizable 4-4-2 formation, a very flexible variant that provides the team with numerous chances in counterattacks. The guests from Spain will respond in a similar formation system.

It seems that at this moment both teams would be satisfied with a draw, and that the Austrian club is in an ideal position to at least win a point and thus prolong the dream of reaching the round of 16. In a group of extremely equal quality, the big test of their strength will be the next matches against Inter Milan, according to many the best Italian team at the moment.