In Salzburg, where people had been accustomed to annihilating their domestic adversaries with a form of sadistic pleasure for years, this period of depression resonates as an anomaly. Because after 10 years without sharing in the championship (Salzburg was champion without interruption from 2014 to 2023), the Austrian club saw Sturm Graz upset the hierarchy and win the 4th Bundesliga in its history in May. Since then, the team led by Pepijn Lijnders has been on autopilot, and this has resulted in poor results, both on the national and continental scene.
So much so that Jürgen Klopp’s first mission at Red Bull would already be to save his former assistant at Liverpool, as reported The Telegraph. Arriving at the Reds in 2014, Lijnders first played in the youth teams, notably contributing to the development of several well-known players such as Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones and Caomhin Kelleher. It was in 2018 that his work opened the doors to the first team, with a promotion to Jürgen Klopp’s staff, and titles in spades until this appointment as coach of Salzburg this summer, his first position as head coach for six years and a short stint at NEC Nijmegen. If he perhaps did not make a celebration of it, he certainly did not imagine such a bitter beginning in Austria either.
Salzburg is 5th in the Austrian championship
With only one victory in its last seven league matches (in addition to a scathing 5-0 loss against Sturm Graz), Red Bull Salzburg is now in 5th place in the Bundesliga, a contradiction when you know the domination insolence of the club in recent years in the country, and the abysmal gap between its budget and that of its competitors. Same story in Europe, where the Bullen remain stuck in this 32nd place out of 36. After five matches, the teammates of Frenchman Lucas Gourna have already suffered three slaps, against Sparta Prague (3-0), at Stade Brestois (4- 0), and more recently at Bayer Leverkusen (5-0).
15 goals conceded in 5 matches (fourth worst defense), 3 scored (fourth worst attack), this is the record of the Austrians in the Champions League, despite being renowned for their itchy character in recent seasons in Europe. Obviously, this new PSG – Real Madrid – Atlético de Madrid sequence does not come at the best of times, and we would not give much of their skin at the idea of taking just one point from these three matches. And as if that wasn’t already enough, Pepijn Lijnders must now cope without Karim Konaté, the Ivorian goal machine who piled up 20 in 29 league matches last season, but was hampered by a rupture of the cruciate ligaments in his knee last year. last week. In search of revival in the Champions League, Paris will have no real choice but to win on Tuesday in Austria. Otherwise you’ll go home with reddened cheeks, and not because of the cold…