Salzburg: Altach as a prologue to the Champions League hit
The starting position before the Bundesliga duel between Salzburg and Altach could hardly be clearer.
Salzburg striker Karim Adeyemi.
APA/Ronny Hartmann
Confident leader of the table against the bottom – the starting position before Salzburg’s home game against Altach on Saturday (5 p.m.) could not be clearer. “Without a doubt we want to win in our own arena,” said Salzburg coach Matthias Jaissle, whose squad showed up on Wednesday with a 0-0 win at LASK from the Corona cluster. It is also the dress rehearsal for the Champions League round of 16 second leg at Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
Salzburg was not only handicapped in terms of preparation, but also in terms of personnel against LASK. However, the situation in front of Altach has eased somewhat. According to Jaissle, captain Andreas Ulmer and central defender Maximilian Wöber, who were still missing on Wednesday, are again an option but should already be back in Munich.
After the 1-1 draw in the first leg, Salzburg can still hope for historic promotion with the clear favorites, but the thoughts should be on the square on Saturday. “I am convinced that the focus will be high,” emphasized sporting director Christoph Freund. “Because it has been a difficult situation over the past few days. Now everyone is happy that we can play football again.”
Jaissle, who had seen his squad “cold start” against LASK, who was fighting for his last championship group chance, spoke of a Corona week with “very, very big and special challenges. We try to tackle it as best we can, also to control it individually. It has them yes, also caught differently. The focus is on bringing each individual close to the optimum performance.”
Altach coach Magnin remains optimistic
After nine defeats in a row (goal difference 1:18), the principle of hope reigns in Altach. Eleven-placed Admira received seven points, which Wiener Austria received. In the worst case, this increases to ten points, after the division of points one would take up the relegation battle in the qualifying group with a five-point backpack.
“So many negative things have hit the team this season. Of course it’s a huge challenge mentally,” said coach Ludovic Magnin, who is still waiting for a goal after three games. “But I’m sure if we manage to get these stones out of the way once, it can also go in the other direction very quickly.”
In any case, they don’t want to travel there as cannon fodder for the people of Salzburg. “If we don’t think we can take something with us, we don’t have to go there. You can call me crazy, but I’m convinced that we’re capable of scoring against Salzburg,” emphasized Magnin.