Salzburg happy about point against “world-class team”
With the home game against AC Milan and the away game against Chelsea, Red Bull Salzburg did not have an easy start in the Champions League. Few would have thought that both games ended without defeat.
Coach Jaissle and Amar Dedic were overjoyed.
GEPA images
First at home against Milan, on Wednesday then also at Chelsea: Again it was Noah Okafor who Salzburg a remarkable 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge and a valuable point in Group E of the Champions League. “We scored points against two world-class teams. That’s really cool,” said coach Matthias Jaissle, whose team was successful with dedicated defensive work and a bit of luck. Now the first win is against Dinamo Zagreb.
CL Group Stage – Matchday 2
Jaissle had said before the game that his squad would suffer at times, and he was right. But it was to become suffering at its best. The dominance of the “Blues”, in which Raheem Sterling shines in particular on the left attacking side, was all too clear with 69 percent ball possession, but Salzburg was still able to master most of the tricky situations. Only when things went wrong and the central defender duo Strahinja Pavlovic/Bernardo Mason failed to control Mount’s cross did Sterling strike.
“We really had to suffer, but we did very well as a team and got a point,” said offensive man Luka Sucic. Veteran Andreas Ulmer also praised his young team. “We defended almost everything and fought until the last minute. We got the maximum out of it and we can be very happy with the draw,” said the full-back and captain. The own pressing, otherwise one of the great strengths, of course usually releases in the sand. “They are so strong with the ball, it’s really difficult to get into pressing moments. Sometimes we did it, but then we have to do even more,” said midfielder Nicolas Seiwald.
Seiwald moved up further at the break after being replaced by Lucas Gourna-Douath for Maurtis Kjaegaard. “Today there was a lot to defend, whether on the six or the eight. I play where the coach sets me up,” said Seiwald. It was 19-year-old Frenchman Gourna-Douath who prepared the equalizer in the 75th minute by winning the ball in midfield. After that, Junior Adamu, who was also new, served Okafor, who severely punished Chelsea’s “nap”. “It’s always great to see when guys like this come in, young boys have to say it,” said Jaissle about his “jokers”, which included another domestic hope in Dijon Kameri.
Okafor in top form
“We had planned three points,” admitted Chelsea’s neo-coach Graham Potter after his debut as Thomas Tuchel’s successor. Okafor, who demonstrated his top form, became a spoilsport: the Swiss traffic in each of the most recent four league and two CL games. “Playing in front of such a crowd and scoring goals is a childhood dream come true,” enthused Okafor. His team is 2 points ahead of bottom Chelsea in third place, followed by Milan (4) and Zagreb (3), who will be visiting the city of Mozart on October 5th.
For Christoph Freund, the party was “right at the top of the list of highlight games.” The sports director, who has been so successful in recent years, is said to have attracted great interest from official media reports from Chelsea. “We have always been in contact with Chelsea, most recently because of a possible transfer from Benjamin Sesko. We have always talked about football, but otherwise there is not much more to it,” he said to “ServusTV”, but avoided one on “Sky”. clear commitment to his current club: “Chelsea is a huge club in transition. I can’t say exactly what will happen in the next few weeks and months.”
Theoretically, his departure could already be certain at the Zagreb home game, after all, the Chelsea owners want to get down to business as quickly as possible. Of course, Salzburg’s players must not touch all of this, their motto for the duel with the Croatian champions seems clear. “We can beat anyone at home, including Dinamo Zagreb. And that’s our goal,” explained Seiwald. “We can claim that we say we’ll beat them at home,” Ulmer underlined. Or in the words of full-back Amar Dedic: “In the home game against Dinamo, we’re going for a 100 percent win.”