"Krone" commentary

This is the true face of Red Bull Salzburg

The Bulls put in another desolate performance on Sunday.

(Bild: 2024 FC Red Bull Salzburg)

Once again this season, runners-up Salzburg missed everything. However, the performance against Blau-Weiß Linz did not come as a surprise. After all, such performances have become the norm in recent weeks. A commentary by "Krone" editor Sebastian Steinbichler.  

What is Salzburg's true face? Without much thought, the answers would probably be as follows: pure dominance, pressing to the oxygen tent, an irrepressible will to win and offensive fireworks. But the reality is completely different.

One look at the statistics against Blau-Weiß Linz is enough to see why. The Bulls played 795 passes. They had over 76 percent possession. And the result was: nothing! In the end, they only had five shots on target. Not a single one of them was on target!

Their opponents, a mid-table team in the Bundesliga, had almost three times as many attempts, four of them on Salzburg's goal. In addition, Pep Lijnders' team once again showed no willpower. This should set alarm bells ringing. Because the championship is also increasingly in danger. In terms of points lost, they are five points off first place. Whether the supplements against Hartberg and Klagenfurt were won must be highly doubted at the moment.

Lacking ideas, haphazard, listless
Performances like the one on Sunday are no longer a surprise. Rather, performances such as the one in Rotterdam are merely outliers, because they have become a rare commodity. The fans are disappointed by the dozen. The runners-up appear completely devoid of ideas, without a plan, listless - no matter who the opponent is. This is the new, this is the true face of the Bulls.