“It will be an intense fight”
Chelsea FC beat FC Red Bull Salzburg 2-1 on Matchday 5 of the Champions League group stage thanks to a dream goal by Kai Havertz. Next Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. the final game between Salzburg and AC Milan will take place.
After numerous chances, the English led 1-0 at the break through Mateo Kovacic’s goal, but immediately after the restart Red Bull Salzburg equalized through Junior Adamu. This was followed by an open exchange of blows, which was decided in favor of the guests by an outstanding flick from Kai Havertz in the 64th minute. Due to the very strong first half, the narrow victory for the Londoners is perhaps okay, although Salzburg played much better and offensively after the break.
After the final whistle, Salzburg coach Matthias Jaissle was both disappointed and proud. “The game showed all facets that exist in football. We had a tough fight today against a truly world-class team. I’m proud of the team because the way we were able to stand up to the whole game with the youngest team that Salzburg has ever fielded in the Champions League is strong. Of course we wanted to take something away with us, but things don’t always work out 100% the way you would like them to.”
The game was completely different in the second half, even if the defeat could not be averted: “The way we did it in the second half, we actually intended to do it in the first half as well. But as I said, it’s clear that things don’t always work out one hundred percent because there’s an opponent who has world-class players in their ranks. We were aware of that before the party. Of course we appealed again and pushed the lads again during the break to do it, that they believe in staying brave, and then it was really good in the second half.”
Potter: “Salzburg doesn’t need to worry”
With today’s victory, Chelsea now have ten points on their account and have already booked their ticket for the knockout phase of the Champions League. Because Milan won 4-0 at Dinamo Zagreb, Salzburg slipped to third place. Now it comes in group E to the final game between the Italian and Austrian champions. The Bulls need to win away. “It will definitely be a tougher fight and more intense. It’s a world-class team again. It was clear from the start that we still have the bang in front of our chests in the last two games. The first now goes to the opponent and maybe we can still get something from the second,” Jaissle knows.
Salzburg needn’t worry about Chelsea getting stuck in the parallel game against Dinamo, as far as Chelsea coach Graham Potter is concerned. “Salzburg doesn’t need to worry. We play at home, we want to win every game there. I’ll rotate a bit, but we’ll certainly do our best,” Potter said. “I’m very happy and satisfied with the win in a very difficult game. Salzburg didn’t make it easy for us. Above all, the performance in the first half was very good. We could have scored more goals there.
Group E Table
# | association | +/- | pt. | |
1 | Chelsea FC | 5 | 5 | 10 |
2 | AC Milan | 5 | 1 | 7 |
3 | RB Salzburg | 5 | 0 | 6 |
4 | Dynamo Zagreb | 5 | -6 | 4 |