Going to the Netherlands with heads held high

FC Red Bull Salzburg

·12 August 2024

Going to the Netherlands with heads held high

Ready for the second leg against FC Twente

We have the upper hand in the clash against FC Twente, with a 2-1 win in the first leg, but that is only enough for the lead at half-time in the tie. We have to put in another strong 90 minutes at least at De Grolsch Veste - known for its 30,000 roaring fans - in order to make the UEFA Champions League qualifying play-off.

Our performance in the first leg, as well as the convincing 5-1 win against FC Blau-Weiß Linz afterwards, means we can go confidently into the 'Hell of Enschede' - as their fans call it. We had the first leg in Salzburg well in control, only for the Dutch side to grab a goal back shortly before the final whistle with a direct free-kick.

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While we worked our way into an attacking fury in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga against the side from Linz, FC Twente took a handy 2-1 win away in Nijmegen (a former club of Pepijn Lijnders) on the opening day of the Eredivisie season. With their fans behind them, Twente will definitely not make things easy for us at all, but our Red Bulls have shown in recent weeks just the kind of power they pack – in addition to our established stars, youngsters like Moussa Yeo and John Mellberg have impressed recently.

Incidentally: The possible opponents for our play-off have already been drawn by UEFA. Should we progress, we will face the winners of the qualifying clash between FC Dynamo Kyiv and Glasgow (1-1 in the first leg).

FC Twente vs. FC Red Bull Salzburg on TV, live stream, web radio and ticker

The third qualifying round is not part of UEFA's TV broadcasting packages, making the TV rights different to usual. Our away match on Tuesday at FC Twente can be seen on Sky Sport Austria or for free on ServusTV and ServusTV On in Austria. We will provide live text updates of the match on our website.

Injury news

Not available for the match are Hendry Blank (thigh), Fernando (thigh), Daouda Guindo (metatarsal), Dijon Kameri (foot), Takumu Kawamura (knee), Karim Konate (knee) and Leandro Morgalla (thigh). Alexander Schlager is back in training after a long injury break.

Views

We did really well in the first leg. We know it is only halfway through the tie and we have a difficult match ahead of us. The Champions League is probably the best club competition in the world, and if you want to take part, you have to deserve your place. We want to do that at Twente, even if we can expect a fierce atmosphere there. It will be a real final.

Pepijn Lijnders

Our aim is to perform as we did in the first leg. We did very well then after getting up to speed, we were patient after the break too and deservedly won. We need to concentrate from the first minute on, as Twente would like to put pressure on us from the start. It is the most important match for us of the season so far.

Oscar Gloukh