Bundesliga – Red Bull Salzburg plays in the Bundesliga
Even before the points were shared at half-time, Red Bull Salzburg seemed to be all set in the Bundesliga. Thanks to a goal later against the first pursuer WAC, the defending champion has extended his lead at the top to 17 points for the time being. Don’t give up on Salzburg, at least go into the decisive ten games of the master group with an eight-point cushion. In view of the dominance of the championship leader, a race without competition is imminent.
“Football often writes funny stories, but they can also be in the realm of daydreams,” commented WAC coach Robin Dutt philosophically, when asked about the prospects of a successful comeback. His team presented themselves again as unearned guests at the 0:2 in Wals-Siezenheim, but went away empty-handed. The Lavanttaler kept the game open for a long time, even had one or the other dangerous action before Luka Sucic and Brenden Aaronson in added time for the favorite traffic.
Once again, Salzburg decided a game in the finish. Coach Matthias Jaissle and his team collected the points 49 to 51 – the German is the first coach to break the 50 point mark in his first 20 Bundesliga games. His explanation for the increasing number of decisions made by the master: “If you dominate a game more and more, then at some point you break the opponent.” The fact that Salzburg can add team players with Sucic or Nicolas Seiwald from the bench will be another recipe for success.
There were four points last year that Salzburg were ahead of Rapid after the points were shared. Man became champion with a lead of 15 points. The year before, LASK was ahead, before Linz finally took a deduction of four points because of forbidden team training. Salzburg was crowned champion 2020 twelve points behind Rapid. In view of the current starting position – 16 wins in 20 rounds with 46:13 goals and only one defeat – Salzburg should only have to pick up the championship trophy.
Mauses 2:2 against Storm
For Rapid, however, the fight for participation in the master group is becoming an absolute nail-biter. With a 2-2 draw at Sturm Graz on Sunday, the Viennese are playing from the top six two rounds before the end of the regular season and are seventh. At least the positive thing is that they have their destiny in their own hands. Two wins at WSG Tirol on Sunday and against Austria Klagenfurt on March 6 bring them a place in the “upper play-off”.
It could be that the Rapidlers stay behind the Klagenfurt team even if they win, but in this case they would quickly overtake SV Ried, since they are still meeting Klagenfurt beforehand. The remaining competitors Austria, LASK and Hartberg, which only has theoretical chances, no longer have any direct duels.