1:1 – Ljubicic makes Bulls stumble
Fourth game, third 1-1: Red Bull Salzburg remains unbeaten in the top flight, but has to give up the lead in Group E again. Ex-Rapidler Robert Ljubicic, of all people, made Zagreb cheer with his goal to equalize.
Red Bull Salzburg drew 1-1 at Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Tuesday, earning a point that could be worth its weight in gold. The “Bulls” are in second place in Group E after four of six rounds with six points – so there is a chance of spending the winter in the European Cup, for which you have to be at least third. Nicolas Seiwald put Salzburg in the lead (12′), ex-Rapidler Robert Ljubicic equalized (40′).
The 23,750 spectators at the Maksimir Stadium – including 600 visiting fans – saw a Salzburg starting eleven with an average age of 22 years and 180 days, the youngest of the club in a “premier class” game. In general, the starting formation was younger in only seven teams in the entire history of the Champions League, these remained with one draw and six defeats, all victories.
Austria’s series champion joined this list, although the start went well. Benjamin Sesko marched in the direction of the penalty area on a counterattack, the ball came to Seiwald via Josip Sutalo, who shot in dry between Dino Peric’s legs. It was only the second competitive goal of the ÖFB-International for the “Bullen” professionals, he had celebrated his goal premiere in September of the previous year in the cup against Kalsdorf.
Zagreb is not impressed by
Instead of refilling, the Mozart townspeople got more and more on the defensive. The pressing didn’t work as hoped, they didn’t have access to the ball and opponents, but Dinamo were able to create comprehensive chances for a long time.
The Croatians only became halfway dangerous with a volley from Luka Ivanusec, which landed in the arms of goalkeeper Philipp Köhn (37th). In the 20th minute, however, luck was on Salzburg’s side. Bruno Petkovic put the ball in the goal, but the German referee Tobias Stieler had decided a fraction of a second before a foul on Lucas Gourna-Douath.
20 minutes later, a tricky decision to the detriment of the guests ended. After a short corner, Ljubicic fired from outside the box and his shot was deflected by Strahinja Pavlovic. At first the goal was not given because Dario Spikic was offside and in front of Köhn.
Ljubicic is the first Austrian to score against a home team
After viewing the video images, Stieler assessed the situation, but not as obstructing the view of the Salzburg keeper – which counted 1:1. Ljubicic thus became the first Austrian to score against an Austrian team in the Champions League.
After the change of sides, Dinamo initially showed themselves to be a stronger team, Ivanusec tested Köhn with a header (56′). After that, however, Salzburg got into the game better. Luka Sucic put a free kick just wide of the goal (62′) and was unlucky with a bang on the bar from the edge of the penalty area (74′). A long-range shot by Maurits Kjaergaard (76′) was not too far off, and a Seiwald attempt was parried by Dinamo goalie Dominik Livakovic (82′). On the other side, a free kick from Petar Bockaj hit the top of the bar (91′).
In the end, it was a fair division of points, with Chelsea (7 points) moving past first place thanks to the away win against AC Milan (like Dinamo Zagreb 4) and Salzburg (6). The Londoners are the next opponents of the “Bulls” in Wals-Siezenheim in two weeks.