EL Qualifiers: Live Updates

Salvation in the 91st minute! Salzburg wins at Mjällby

(Bild: GEPA)

Last hurdle for Red Bull Salzburg! The Mozart City team faces Swedish club Mjällby AIF in the Europa League qualifying playoff final. The first leg is underway. We’re covering it live—see the live updates below. The score is currently 0–1.

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In Hällevik, southern Sweden, Salzburg faces its final hurdle before advancing to the group stage of the Europa League. On the Listerlandet peninsula, the “Bulls” are being hosted by Mjällby AIF, Sweden’s surprise champions, for the first leg of the playoff. “This is a well-organized team that’s eager to play soccer. You’ll need two good games against them,” said Salzburg coach Danny Röhl before the team’s departure on Wednesday.

If Salzburg prevails, they’ll advance to the main competition of the Europa League—which has existed since 2009–10—for the 13th time. In UEFA’s second-highest competition, Austria’s former serial champion even reached the semifinals in 2018 and the quarterfinals in 2019. Officially, the talk was of “our competition.” If they’re eliminated, they’ll move down to the Conference League, where Salzburg has never competed before. But they don’t want to waste any thoughts on that. “We all set out to play in the Europa League. When you see the top teams waiting there, we’d all be very happy to have those great home games and away trips. That’s why we’ll give it our all tomorrow to take that first step,” Röhl explained.

A Fishing Village on a European Cup Adventure
Financially, there’s a world of difference between the two teams—and their experience at the European Cup level is also quite different. For the team from the fishing village—located about an hour and a half’s drive from Malmö—the upcoming match will be only the fifth international appearance in the club’s history. Although they managed to advance past Lincoln FC of Gibraltar in the Champions League qualifiers (3-0), their run ended in the third round against the Slovakian perennial champions, Slovan Bratislava (1-4).

  Domestically, they have managed to fend off the much wealthier competition from the major cities. At the halfway point of the season, Mjällby—without any major investors backing them—is embroiled in a relegation battle. However, over the weekend, they defeated the previously undefeated league leader IK Sirius 4–3 after coming back from a 0–3 deficit. “That was yet another warning for us,” said Röhl.

  Meanwhile, there have been some changes at the Swedish double champion. Champion coach Anders Torstensson is now pulling the strings as technical director, while the young Norwegian Karl Marius Aksum (36) has been appointed head coach. The club is named after the town of Mjällby, population 1,400, but plays its home games in the neighboring municipality of Hällevik. To meet UEFA guidelines, the stadium first had to be expanded with portable containers and other temporary structures.

No Favorites Role—Krätzig Out
Röhl and his team did not want to be labeled as favorites, even though they had not previously known their opponent. “They should definitely not be underestimated; they’re certainly a tough opponent. We’ll have to hold our own against them,” warned captain Nikolas Veratschnig. Since Röhl took over two months ago, the Salzburg team has performed very solidly, posting four wins and two draws in six competitive matches. In the Europa League qualifiers, however, they certainly had their hands full against Pafos from Cyprus. Their advancement was due in no small part to new signing Haris Tabakovic, who scored all four goals against Pafos.

The team wants to learn from these experiences. “Tomorrow is, for now, just the first half of a two-leg series. We’ve already learned that a first-leg victory doesn’t automatically mean everything is settled,” said Röhl. The squad is slightly depleted compared to last Sunday’s 3-0 win at WSG Tirol; according to the club, fullback Frans Krätzig is “out for some time” with a thigh injury, though Röhl hopes it will be no more than ten days. There were still question marks surrounding Leandro Morgalla, who took a blow to the knee against WSG.