Long and winding road
Salzburg finally get European success after 10-year wait
VIENNA: Although the desired breakthrough in the Champions League has yet to happen, Salzburg are finally enjoying the European success they have been targeting for more than a decade.
The Austrian club are in the semi-finals of the Europa League, the only team from outside the top five leagues still in the race for a European cup this season.
With tomorrow’s away leg at Marseille coming up, Salzburg are trying to become the first Austrian club in a European final since Rapid Vienna were beaten by Paris St Germain in the 1996 Cup Winners’ Cup.
“Everything is possible. We definitely want to go to the final,” Salzburg forward Hannes Wolf said after his team’s 3-1 win over Altach in a domestic league match on Sunday.
“As we are in the semi-finals now, it would be weird not to dream about the final.”
Since the takeover and rebranding of the club by Red Bull in 2005, Salzburg have been dominating domestic football.
They won the Austrian League eight times in the past 12 seasons and are on course for their fifth straight double.
Sunday’s win extended Salzburg’s lead over runners-up Sturm Graz to 11 points with five matches remaining, and they have qualified again for the Austrian Cup final, against Graz on May 9.
However, success on home soil has only been a minor part of Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz’s ambitions with the club.
He wanted Salzburg to become a regular contender in the Champions League, but the club have failed to live up to that billing.
Salzburg once played in the group stage more than two decades ago, but they have not managed to qualify again despite 10 attempts in the Red Bull era.
They have performed significantly better in the Europa League, getting through the group stage on five occasions.
But they never went beyond the last 16 – until this season, when they beat Real Sociedad, Borussia Dortmund and Lazio in the knockout stage after winning a group that also included Marseille.
Israel striker Munas Dabbur gave Salzburg a 1-0 home win over the French side, while the teams played to a 0-0 draw in a meaningless final group match in Marseille.
Salzburg coach Marco Rose doesn’t believe those results from a few months ago make Salzburg favourites in the semi-finals.
“Marseille are a team with extremely good individual players and a strong tactical approach,” said Rose, who took over from Oscar Garcia this season to become the 10th Salzburg coach in the Red Bull era.
“We need to come up with a good game plan to survive in Marseille and give ourselves a chance for the return game.”
Red Bull has, meanwhile, shifted its Champions League ambitions to Leipzig. It is giving priority to their club in Germany and many Salzburg players have moved to Leipzig in recent years.
The starting line-up for the return leg of their Europa League quarter-final match against Marseille included six former Salzburg players.
Still, their new focus of developing young players and preparing them for the next step in their careers is suiting Salzburg well.
The 41-year-old Rose led the programme since joining Salzburg as a youth coach in 2013, after a career that saw him playing as a defender for Leipzig, Hanover and Mainz until 2010.
Under Rose, Salzburg’s Under-19 team won the UEFA Youth League last year. Playing an attractive, high-pressing game, Salzburg saw off some of the biggest clubs in European football in the knockout stage: Manchester City, Paris St Germain, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and, in the final, Benfica.
“We have a very strong scouting network worldwide and we manage over and over again to attract really good talents,” said Rose, who has given three players from his triumphant Under-19 squad important roles in the first team – forward Wolf and midfielders Xaver Schlager and Amadou Haidara.
The youngsters turn Salzburg into an interesting blend, with experienced players like goalkeeper Alexander Walke, defender Andreas Ulmer, midfielder Valon Berisha and Dabbur playing guiding roles.
“We have given all players a lot of confidence and we have rotated a lot,” Rose said.
“That is paying off. It means that all players have got enough playing time.”
Salzburg is likely to get a long-desired reward for their successful Europa League campaign.
Rising in the UEFA coefficients ranking, Austria are now firmly closing in on a guaranteed spot in the group stage of the Champions League.