Europa League ticker

1:4! Salzburg return home from Bologna without points

(Bild: GEPA)

Matchday five in the league phase of the 2025/26 Europa League season: Austria's runners-up FC Red Bull Salzburg face FC Bologna away from home. We report live (see below) from this match! The score is currently 3:2!

Here is the LIVETICKER:

Red Bull Salzburg have an attractive away match ahead of them in the Europa League. The runners-up face Italian league fifth-placed Bologna today. "That will be a big challenge," said RBS coach Thomas Letsch, who will once again rely on captain Mads Bidstrup. Both clubs need points in the battle to survive the league phase: Salzburg are on three points, the Italians on five. This leaves them in 28th and 24th place respectively.

The "Bulls" made their first appearance before the international break with a 2-0 home win against Go Ahead Eagles. Before that, there had been three defeats against Porto (0:1), Lyon (0:2) and Ferencvaros (2:3). "We are now at half-time and have too few points. That's why we need to score more in the second half. Now it's about getting results," said Letsch on Wednesday before the departure.

Salzburg travel to Emilia-Romagna without a winning record, having lost 3-2 at home to WSG Tirol in the Bundesliga on Sunday. "But we've already shown that we can get back up after a defeat. And that's our goal at Bologna," explained the 57-year-old German.

Rossoblu unbeaten for two months
In Bologna, the sporting situation is different: Vincenzo Italiano's team has not lost a competitive match since the end of September. Since the 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa, the Rossoblu have won six and drawn five. Most recently, champions Napoli were beaten 2-0 at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, followed by a 3-0 win in Udine at the weekend. Accordingly, there is a great deal of respect in the Salzburg camp. "Bologna are playing really well in the championship and are not in fifth place by chance. For me, they are currently playing the best soccer in Serie A," said ex-Italy international Aleksa Terzic.

The left-back expects "power and aggression". His coach has a similar view. "This is an opponent who will chase us one-on-one all over the pitch. It's about leaving one out in the game so that spaces open up. That's only possible if we play courageously," said Letsch. "But we have to be honest: If we end up with a dirty, disgusting 1-0 win, then we'll be happy."

Bidstrup in the starting eleven
Bidstrup will be back in the starting eleven for the first time since his injury lay-off, Letsch announced. "I feel ready and I'll do everything I can to get a good result," explained the 24-year-old Dane, who recently came on as a substitute against Sturm and WSG. Striker Karim Konate is also traveling to Italy after recovering from a cruciate ligament rupture. "Karim won't play from the start. Karim is not there as a tourist. He was out for a very, very long time. So it's all the nicer that he's there," said Letsch.

Meanwhile, things haven't quite gone to plan for Bologna in the Europa League. The seven-time Italian champions have just one win from four games (2:1 at Steaua Bucharest), plus two draws against Freiburg (1:1) and Brann Bergen (0:0). Italiano will be without first-choice goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski, English attacking force Jonathan Rowe and Swiss veteran Remo Freuler in their first European Cup clash with Salzburg due to injury.