RB Salzburg sees a coherent favorite role as recognition
Despite a recent major change in the team, Red Bull Salzburg will open the Bundesliga season on Friday (8:30 p.m./live ORF, Sky) against Austria Vienna as the undisputed favorite. The defending champion wants to extend a historic series of successes and is aiming for his tenth championship title in a row. In the APA trainer survey, the trainers of the competitors unanimously assume that the team of trainer Matthias Jaissle will also succeed.
“I see it as recognition and praise,” explained Jaissle in response to his colleagues’ assessments and recalled last summer, when the competition was getting closer after a similar upheaval. “We’ve worked up our expectations. We’re going into the season with this pressure, which we burdened ourselves with. We can deal with it well,” said the champion coach, but also warned immediately. “It won’t be a sure-fire success, it will be a harder fight to the end.”
The fact that he no longer has three key players available in Karim Adeyemi (Borussia Dortmund), Brenden Aaronson and Rasmus Kristensen (both Leeds United) is now common practice in Salzburg every summer. The trio brought in record proceeds of over 70 million euros, but that’s not all, confirmed sports director Christoph Freund. Mohamed Camara, Albert Vallci and Antoine Bernede were not in the squad for Tuesday’s dress rehearsal against Ajax Amsterdam. Freund does not rule out that “something else could happen” to all three.
Not least because of this and because of the intense workload in the fall, Salzburg has positioned itself broadly. “The squad is largely in place, it’s still on the larger side. All positions are filled at least twice, there’s competition. We’re happy when we’re in a very good position in terms of depth and quality. We’ll definitely be need,” Freund said.
Because the goals of the club, which is firmly in the Champions League group stage, are high as always, emphasized the sporting director. “First and foremost we want to start well in the championship, then we’ll work our way forward step by step. If possible, we want the tenth title in a row. For that you need to start well and deliver good games,” explained Freund.
To this end, Salzburg has not only raised talent from its own respected youth and brought back players on loan, but also hired Lucas Gourna-Douath, captain of the French U19s, the Brazilian striker Fernando (23) and the Serbian central defender Strahinja Pavlovic (21). “The quality of the squad is very high. It’s a really good squad, both in terms of breadth and at the top,” says Jaissle happily.
“The upheaval was there again, some deserving players and leaders have left us. Like every summer, this is a great opportunity for the boys who move up to develop themselves. They have it in their own hands, I’m even more tormented of the election”, the coach fueled the competition. For this he maintains an open exchange, the players “know what they are about”.