Salzburg is dismantled after a short time at the start of the Champions League

Heavy defeat for RB Salzburg: In the Champions League opener at Sparta Prague, the Austrian sister club of RB Leipzig suffered a 0-3 defeat – and the domestic press has clear words to say about the runner-up.

“The risk was too high, the experiments too much,” writes the courierRB revealed many weaknesses at the start, “a largely disappointing performance, a bitter defeat against one of the supposedly weaker opponents”.

Salzburg’s Dutch coach Pepijn Lijnders became the first coach in the club’s history to lose his first game with the club in the Champions League (not counting the several bitter Salzburg defeats in qualifying).

RB got off to a very bad start in Prague. Less than 120 seconds had passed and the hosts were in the lead thanks to a goal by Kaan Kairinen (2nd). Lukas Haraslin tested RB keeper Janis Blaswich, who blocked the ball right in the middle, where Kairinen tapped in with his left from around eleven meters.

At the station DAZN Max Gross initially spoke of a goalkeeping mistake by Blaswich, but then backtracked somewhat and assumed that Blaswich had “at least cut an unfortunate figure” when the goal was conceded. Leipzig’s former number 2 almost conceded another goal two minutes later, with Haraslin’s shot narrowly missing the goal.

But the Red Bull club also had little to offer in attack. “Salzburg still had a lot to offer at both ends of the pitch – in contrast to their successful qualifying performances against Twente Enschede and Dynamo Kiev,” wrote the crown.

The “heavy defeat” was sealed by goals from Victor Olatunji (42nd) and Qazim Laci (58th). All media agreed on one thing: the defeat could have been even worse, if not had to be.

The next opportunity to do better will be in two weeks at the home game against Stade Brest. (October 1st from 6:45 p.m. in the LIVETICKER).