New sense of confidence as we eye comeback in Belgium

Second leg ahead at Club Brugge

That felt good – after we failed to score in the first leg of our UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie againstClub Brugge despite some good opportunities, the damn finally burst at home to GAK this weekend with our 5-0 win! The five goals boosted our confidence ahead of the second leg in Belgium thisTuesday 12 August at 19:30 CEST, as we seek to reverse the 0-1 deficit in the first meeting.

Our opponents also have a good weekend behind them though! Blauw-Zwart won their local derby 2-0 against groundsharers Cercle Brugge. Just like our boys, they had an extra man for a half.

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Now we need to goaway to the Jan Breydel Stadiumand show what we can do in front of close to 29,000 fans – 24,000 of which are season-ticket holders. We know from our trip back in 2019 just how fierce the atmosphere can be there. Our aim of making the UEFA Champions League play-offwill not be easy – but it is possible, and our Red Bulls are prepared to give their absolute all to take the next step towards the elite competition!

Club Brugge vs. FC Red Bull Salzburg on TV, live stream and with live text updates

Our clash with Club Brugge will be broadcast in Austria live and for free onServusTV and ServusTV On. We will also provide live text updates on our website.

Injury news

• Not available for the match areTakumu Kawamura (knee), Karim Konate (knee), John Mellberg (knee), Karim Onisiwo (thigh), Valentin Sulzbacher (thigh) and Christian Zawieschitzky (calf).

• Sota Kitanosuffered severe bruising and a laceration on his right ankle against GAK and will be out for the time being.

• Frans Krätzigis out with a minor injury sustained in the first leg.

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The result from the first leg is obviously not what we wanted. We wanted to press on, but unfortunately we didn’t manage to do so, and so the score at half-time in the clash is 0-1. We won’t give up. We’ll be preparing very carefully for the second leg and try to improve on what we lacked on in the first leg. That really wasn’t too much. The big win in the league was obviously good for us and gives us confidence.

Thomas Letsch

The match in Salzburg was a close one and very evenly balanced overall. It’s frustrating that we lost, but it motivates us even more to do better on Tuesday in Brugge. We know that we need an away win to advance, and I’m convinced that we can do it. We showed at the weekend that we can score goals.

Yorbe Vertessen

Scots or Czechs await if we progress

The winners of our match against Club Brugge will face a team from Scotland or Czechia in the UEFA Champions League play-offs. Rangers are in pole position after winning their home match against Viktoria Plzeň 3-0. The second leg of that will take place on Wednesday at 19:00.

The losers of our match against Club Brugge will qualify for the league stage of the UEFA Europa League.