[ad_1]
RB Salzburg missed their first entry into the Champions League knockout stage. The Austrian series champions lost 2-0 to Atlético Madrid on Wednesday night, finishing Group A in third place behind the Spanish championship leaders who had risen alongside Bayern Munich.
As a result, coach Jesse Marsch’s team will also be represented at the European Cup in 2021, progressing to the 16th final of the Europa League. The draw will take place in Nyon on December 14.
The goals of the Spaniards against empty ranks due to the coronavirus pandemic were scored by Mario Hermoso (39th) and Yannick Carrasco (86th). So they just won the second duel with the “Bulls” after the slim house 3-2. As is often the case in group stage games, Salzburg could have done more, but a lack of insensitivity prevented scoring on some important occasions. This ended the group stage with four points that they had won 2: 2 (home) and 3: 1 (away) against the last group Lok Moskva (Moscow). Against Bayern they were defeated by 2: 6 (at home) and 1: 3 (away).
“We’ve learned a lot in the last eleven games, it’s time to win against a top opponent,” Marsch said before the game. Therefore, Salzburg started with Sékou Koïta, Patson Daka and Mërgim Berisha in the starting lineup very aggressively and made a very brave appearance from the start. After just under two minutes, the dreamed start was almost perfect, but Berisha’s shot put the pole saved by Atlético goalkeeper Jan Oblak. In the tenth minute, Koïta hesitated too much when there was a chance to graduate, there would have been so much more there. With a shot from Szoboszlai in the 16th minute, Oblak was properly controlled for the first time.
The home team was not only extremely dangerous, but overall they were extremely good at the game, winning lots of second balls and tackles with their aggressive style of play. For the Spanish, it wasn’t until minute 24 that they were able to create a goal danger for the first time with a shot from Marcos Llorente. On the other hand, Koïta and Daka did not finish off a promising counterattack perfectly (30th).
Carelessness leads to a preliminary decision
By now, at the latest, the Spanish were a bit better at the game. Cican Stanković managed to solve a frivolous loss of the ball by Maximilian Wöber in the penalty area in a duel with Llorente with a defense (33.). Six minutes later, the ÖFB team’s goal was beaten, due to Salzburg’s oversight in a standard situation. Hermoso headed Carrasco’s free kick into the far corner, the 25-year-old central defender had come to an end between Berisha and Rasmus Kristensen.
After the restart, Salzburg should have quickly equalized. In a dream action that included a double in the middle with Berisha, Szoboszlai shot from the best position near the goal. As in the duel with Bayern, the coveted Hungarian missed a hundred percent chance at an important moment.
For the rest, the home team was clearly overweight and pressed 1-1, but Atlético’s defense bar was bomb-proof. In the final phase, the guests still made use of their rooms. Stanković was able to excel on a shot from Félix (81), but had to get behind him on a volley from Carrasco after a cross from Correa. As in the previous edition, the dream of promotion ended in the last game, when there was a 2-0 draw against Liverpool.
What
