Injury worse after all

Next Salzburg player facing the end of the season

Amar Dedic, Amankwah Forson and Strahinja Pavlovic (from left).

(Bild: 2023 FC Red Bull Salzburg)

The injury devil remains on a first-name basis with champions FC Red Bull Salzburg: after captain Andreas Ulmer, the injury to another regular Bulls player is worse than expected. Boss Stephan Reiter knows: "That's difficult for any coach."

The biggest problem for champions Salzburg this season? The issue of match availability!

"You can prove that factually if you compare it to Sturm Graz," explained Bullen managing director Stephan Reiter recently on Sky. What he means by that: While the Styrians had only a few injuries over the course of the season, the Salzburg squad sometimes resembled a military hospital. 

Stephan Reiter is the managing director of FC Red Bull Salzburg.

(Bild: Tröster Andreas/Andreas Tröster)

However, the problem is not new, as in the previous season under Matthias Jaissle, up to 13 or 14 players were missing at any one time. "It's a big challenge when you always have such a high number of injured players," said the club boss, putting it in a nutshell by adding: "You don't bring continuity to the starting eleven. That's difficult for any coach."

Jaissle struggled with this, as did Gerhard Struber and now Onur Cinel. He will be without the long-term injured Nicolas Capaldo, Fernando, Maurits Kjaergaard, Leandro Morgalla and Andreas Ulmer for the away game against Rapid tomorrow (17). Amar Dedic will also be missing again. In addition to Salzburg's captain, his deputy is also suffering from a calf injury.

Sucic's involvement shaky
As the "Krone" has learned, it is said to be the same problem. This means that the record-breaking Bulls player and the Bosnian team player will probably not play again this season. 

Salzburg's list of absentees

Nicolas Capaldo (knee)

Leandro Morgalla (heart muscle inflammation)

Maurits Kjaergaard (thigh)

Fernando (thigh)

Amar Dedic (calf)

Andreas Ulmer (calf)

This in turn raises the question: Will Dedic, who feels ready for the next step in his career, even play for the champions again? So far he has made 70 appearances for Salzburg, scoring eight goals and providing nine assists. 

To make matters worse, the Bulls have another injured player: There is a question mark over Luka Sucic, who is also struggling with calf problems. At least Strahinja Pavlovic, who was recently suspended, will return to the squad. Regardless of this, one thing is clear for Cinel's squad in the title fight: a win is a must! Otherwise, rivals Sturm could finally pull away from them in the table.