Red Bull Salzburg v. Manchester City: Match Preview

Red Bull Salzburg v. Manchester City
Europa League Group Stage – Matchday 1
Red Bull Arena, Salzburg
Kickoff – 6:00 PM BST

Vienna, 1970. Tony Book is lifting the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup on a rain-soaked night in the Austrian capital, completing the first UEFA/domestic cup double in English history and capping off what Malcolm Allison later shaded as possibly Manchester City’s greatest achievement of the halcyon ‘60s and ‘70s.

Forty years on, City are returning to Austria for the first time in a competitive fixture since that triumph over Gornik, and for the first time since then, Blues everywhere are beginning to believe that the club just might be ready to “terrify Europe” once again.

City’s first group stage opponents are the reigning Austrian champions, Red Bull Salzburg, and after Timisoara represent the second European opponent in a row suffering something of an identity crisis. Originally founded as SV Austria Salzburg in 1933, the club was purchased by Red Bull in 2005 and completely re-branded, down to the name, colours, badge, and history. Opponents of the club’s new identity formed a new SV Austria Salzburg that now plays in the Austrian third division.

Red Bull Salzburg won the 2009-10 Austrian Bundesliga on the last matchday of the season, edging out Viennese rivals Austria and Rapid by 1 and 3 points respectively. It was Salzburg’s second consecutive league title and capped off a remarkable season in which they also finished with the only 100% record in the inaugural Europa League group stage, doing the double over Villareal and Lazio along the way. It was another continental feather in the cap of a club whose burgeoning European pedigree is highlighted by an appearance in the 1994 UEFA Cup final, where they were beaten over two legs by Inter Milan. Coincidentally, the first leg of that final was played at the Ernst Happel Stadium, site of City’s Cup Winners’ glory 24 years earlier.

Salzburg’s most dangerous player from last season’s title-winning campaign, 18-goal scorer Marc Janko, has since moved to FC Twente for £4 million. They will now depend on Austrian journeyman Roman Wallner and South American youngsters Gonzalo Zarate and Joaquin Boghossian –both summer signings – for goals.

One thing that didn’t changed over the offseason was Salzburg’s Dutch gaffer Huub Stevens, a man whose Austrian renaissance has helped him to add Bundesliga silverware to the decorated domestic and continental cup credentials he achieved as manager of Schalke, having hoisted the UEFA Cup in 1997 and the German Cup in 2001 and 2002.

Like City, Stevens’ club comes off a disappointing home result at the weekend, having been held to a goalless draw by perennial bottom-halfers LASK of Linz. The draw leaves Red Bull third from bottom in the fledgling Bundesliga table and already 11 points off the early pace set by newly promoted Wacker Innsbruck, albeit with a game in hand. According to the match summary on mcfc.co.uk, attendance at the Red Bull Arena was less than 12,000 on Saturday, roughly one-third capacity. Salzburg will be hoping for an improved performance and atmosphere for City’s visit on Thursday evening.

Roberto Mancini takes his team into Red Bull Arena for the second time this season, having visited the New York version in preseason, and will be looking for an accomplished performance in Austria on the back of two poor results in the Premier League. Mancini targeted a long run in Europe following City’s dispatching of Timisoara in the previous round, and looks set to name a strong side in order to get points on the board early on in the group stage. Joe Hart has already been penciled in to start in goal following the howler against Blackburn, and Mancini is looking to welcome back Nigel DeJong, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Wayne Bridge from injury. David Silva is also likely to be in the starting lineup following an impressive substitute appearance at the weekend.

Verdict: Red Bull Salzburg are miserly in defence and difficult to beat at the Red Bull Arena. So while on paper Juventus may have been the glamour draw of the group, this might end up being the most difficult fixture of the lot, especially with City still trying to bed in new signings and with a number of key players still on the treatment table. Even so, Salzburg has shown some vulnerability in Europe the last two seasons, shipping 5 away goals in total to Israeli sides at the last qualifying hurdle of Champions League and crashing out twice as a result. Even Bohemians managed to score a goal at the Red Bull Arena last season, so City must be confident that they can not only continue to carve out chances as they did against Blackburn and Sunderland, but that this time they can bury a couple of them.

Prediction – Red Bull Salzburg 1-2 Manchester City

Potential City lineup: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Boyata, Bridge; DeJong, Y. Toure, Barry; Silva, Adebayor, Wright-Phillips

Thanks go to Michigan Blue of ManCityFans.net for writing this excellent preview.

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