FC Red Bull Salzburg
·16 September 2024
FC Red Bull Salzburg
·16 September 2024
Before we face our UEFA Champions League opener on Wednesday evening, our Young Bulls will be busy in Europe's biggest U19 competition in the early afternoon! At 13:00 CEST they face their first tie at the FK Loko Praha stadium against their rivals from AC Sparta Prague as our young talents try to follow in the footsteps of Karim Konate, Dominik Szoboszlai, Xaver Schlager & Co, who all once represented our club in the UEFA Youth League.
Just like the big boys, our youngsters are dealing with a few changes to the structure of the UEFA Youth League. With our side qualifying via the Champions League route, the first six fixtures of our UEFA Champions League campaign are being replicated. At the end of that, the top 22 of the overall table as well as ten teams from the champions' route will make the last 32.
Our first opponents in the league phase, AC Sparta Prague, have regularly qualified for the UEFA Youth League in recent years by securing their domestic youth title, albeit they have found little fortune in the champions' path. Last season they were knocked out in the second round on a penalty shoot-out against Zilina, while in 2021/22 the Czech youngsters lost to MTK Budapest in the first round. There is no denying though that the Prague outfit have produced lots of promising talents in the recent past.
We are hoping to continue our solid record in the Youth League in recent years. Our Young Bulls have always made it past the group stage, and we want to put in another strong showing this autumn under Daniel Beichler.
We are really pleased to be able to get going in this competition. I have been involved twice as an assistant, and it is definitely a cool experience for all involved. It is a good chance for youngsters to test themselves against top European sides. Sparta Prague have a lot of talented players and are a robust side. They will be a real yardstick for our boys. It is our aim to impress with our style of football and put in a good performance – and we want to start that on Wednesday!
Head coach Daniel Beichler
You can see on Wednesday just how Zeteny Jano, Tim Trummer & Co get on in Prague on Wednesday in our free RBS TV live stream on our homepage and app.