Horror evening in the CL
Bayer Leverkusen against Salzburg from 9pm LIVE
Red Bull Salzburg's problems were once again ruthlessly exposed today in the Champions League! The Salzburg team had no chance at all at German champions Bayer Leverkusen and lost 0:5 (0:3).
It was the third defeat in a row for the team of coach Pepijn Lijnders. While Leverkusen practically have promotion to the knockout phase in the bag with ten points from five games, Salzburg need a minor miracle to do so.
Austria's runners-up were taken apart by every trick in the book in front of 30,000 spectators in the BayArena. Florian Wirtz scored a brace (8th penalty, 30th). Alejandro Grimaldo (11th), Patrik Schick (61st) and Aleix Garcia (72nd) were also successful.
It was Salzburg's third heaviest defeat since Red Bull joined the club in 2005, having already lost 5-0 to defending champions Sturm Graz in the Bundesliga and 4-0 at home to Stade Brest in the Champions League this season.
"Bulls" overstretched from the start
Lijnders fielded a formation similar to that used in the 3:1 surprise win at Feyenoord Rotterdam three weeks ago. The absence of six potential starting eleven players, including top striker Victor Boniface and DFB team player Jonas Hofmann, was not noticeable at all for Leverkusen. Star coach Xabi Alonso's team put Salzburg under pressure early on, with goalkeeper Alexander Schlager having to fish a Wirtz shot out of the far corner after less than 90 seconds.
The "Bulls" found it extremely difficult to play out. This was followed by one low blow after another: After a shot from Granit Xhaka, which bounced off Samson Baidoo's own thigh and onto his elbow, Ukrainian referee Mykola Balakin pointed to the penalty spot following VAR intervention and a lengthy video review. Wirtz scored safely into the right-hand corner. Seconds later, Baidoo lost the ball to Schick in the penalty area, but Schlager speculated correctly with the Boniface substitute's cross.
Knee injury to Konaté
Grimaldo sank a free-kick from a half-left position into the left corner. Two minutes later, Karim Konate grabbed his knee through no fault of his own and went down. Salzburg's number one striker, who had scored twice in Rotterdam, had to leave the pitch with a suspected cruciate ligament rupture. According to the club, imaging diagnostics will follow on Wednesday.
The best Salzburg player on the pitch was Schlager. The ÖFB goalkeeper saved against Schick (26') after a mistake by Aleksa Terzic and a minute later also saved a shot by Xhaka (27'). He was powerless to stop Wirtz's second goal. The young German star showed his class on the ball, calmly curving around three Salzburg players and slotting into the far corner. Jeremie Frimpong (36') and Exequiel Palacios (45') could have made it 4:0 before the break, but were denied by Schlager.
After the break, Frimpong played in Schick with an impressive cross, who scored the first CL goal of his career. Wirtz was annoyed not to have scored a third goal long ago after rolling the ball just past the far corner (64'). Schlager had to intervene against the substitute Garcia (68'). However, the Spaniard struck four minutes later after Wirtz found him at the back. At the other end, shots from Amar Dedic (45.+1, 82.) were the most dangerous actions.
CL opponents won't be any easier
Salzburg are still on three points after five CL rounds - and have a hugely negative goal difference of 3:15. With the exception of the Rotterdam breakaway, all of their games have been lost to nil. The next chance for the Bulls to spring a surprise will come on December 10 at home against Paris Saint-Germain. In the new year, they will play Real Madrid away (January 22) and Atletico Madrid at home (January 29) in the new league phase of the premier class.
The result:
Bayer Leverkusen - FC Red Bull Salzburg 5:0 (3:0)
BayArena, 30,000 spectators, SR Balakin (UKR)
Goals: 1:0 (8') Wirtz (penalty), 2:0 (11') Grimaldo, 3:0 (30') Wirtz, 4:0 (61') Schick, 5:0 (72') Aleix García
Yellow cards: Andrich and Yeo
Leverkusen: Kovar - Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie (67. Arthur) - Frimpong (68. Tella), Xhaka, Andrich, Grimaldo - Palacios (67. Garcia), Wirtz (76. Onyeka) - Schick (73. Stepanov)
Salzburg: Schlager - Dedic, Piatkowski, Baidoo, Terzic (46. Guindo) - Clark (46. Bidstrup), Gourna-Douath (46. Bajcetic), Diambou (74. Capaldo) - Yeo, Konate (16. Nene), Gloukh
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