1:3 defeat in Linz

Can empty! Salzburg threatened with a sporting super-GAU

Marin Ljubicic scores to make it 3:0 for LASK against Salzburg.(Bild: APA/EXPA/UWE WINTER)

Inferior performance: Champions were beaten 3-1 in Linz. Coach Gerhard Struber: "The red thread is broken". Keeper Alexander Schlager: "We didn't put up much of a fight."

Bidstrup won the ball, Gloukh's pass, Koita's finish - after 58 seconds, many of the Bulls fans who had made the journey were already getting ready to cheer! As the Malian put the ball next to the goal, the cheers stuck in the throats of the supporters.

(Bild: 2024 FC Red Bull Salzburg)

What nobody could have guessed: It was to get much worse!

Champions Salzburg failed to do almost anything in the steel city and were deservedly beaten 3-1 in front of 13,800 spectators. "We wanted to present ourselves very differently. We wanted to control and dominate from the very first minute, like a red thread. But this thread broke at one point or another," analyzed the visibly shaken Bulls head coach Gerhard Struber.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

"We have to change something"
Chief defender Strahinja Pavlovic was stunned by the inferior performance of the serial champions. "We didn't play well and have to change something quickly. The last three games were not at Salzburg's level. We have to train even harder," explained the Serbian. Goalkeeper Alex Schlager also found clear words after the anemic performance of many Bulls: "LASK had the biting, fighting, running and pinching ahead of us. We didn't stand up to them."

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Slogans of perseverance
What followed were the 28-year-old goalkeeper's slogans of perseverance: "We now have to pull together, dig in and trust each other. We have to remain humble and work our way back to what made us great."

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

That is also bitterly necessary if the struggling Bulls want to avoid a sporting disaster in the form of a title-less season.