Ready for the new league stage age

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FC Red Bull Salzburg

·17 septembre 2024

Ready for the new league stage age

UEFA Champions League opener at Sparta Prague

The first of eight instalments of a brand-new challenge await us. Our Red Bulls are to open the new UEFA Champions League league phase in the Czech capital as we visit AC Sparta Prague this Wednesday 18 September at 18:45 CEST! (You can read how the new set-up works in more detail HERE.)

Close to 19,000 spectators are set to line the Letna Stadium as the reigning Czech double winners, no less, await us. Sparta, coached by Lars Friis, have built on their strong performance from last season to make it through Champions League qualifying (seeing off Shamrock Rovers, Bucharest and Malmö) to be unbeaten leaders of the 1. Ceska fotbalova liga.

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We know one another from a pre-season friendly we contested this summer. Dorgeles Nene and Oscar Gloukh netted for us, but the visitors levelled in a 2-2 draw. Just two months later, the two teams now go into the Champions League opener in a similar position. Just like us, Sparta were without a league match at the weekend due to the bad weather in central Europe. We will have to see who can make the better restart after a long break.

One thing for sure is that our coach Pepijn Lijnders has good memories of AC Sparta Prague from last season. As Liverpool assistant coach, he was able to make it through the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League with a sensational aggregate score of 11-2! He would love to recreate that kind of success to land three points in his first Champions League match in the dugout.

Will he achieve it? You can keep up to date with the encounter on our live text updates on the homepage - with Canal+ also broadcasting live in Austria.

Facts before the match

It's a numbers game - according to UEFA simulations at least 7.6 points (two wins and two draws) should be enough to secure a spot in the knockout phase.
Our new signing Bobby Clark has made two European appearances in his career so far - both against Sparta Prague. His last clash against them, a 6-1 win for Liverpool in last season's UEFA Europa League – saw him contribute a goal and an assist.
Sparta Prague have failed to win in 14 matches in the UEFA Champions League (four draws and ten defeats), since beating Lazio 1-0 in December 2003. Only Steaua Bucharest (23), Genk (18) and Maribor (17) have gone longer without a win in this competition, albeit none of those have made it to the 2024/25 league phase.
Watch out: Sparta Prague's Veljko Birmancevic has eight goal involvements from his last nine European matches, including qualifying (six goals and two assists), one of which was a goal against Liverpool in last season's UEFA Europa League tie at Anfield.

Injury news

Not available for the match are Fernando (thigh), Daouda Guindo (metatarsal), Takumu Kawamura (knee), Maurits Kjaergaard (ankle) and Aleksa Terzic (thigh).

Views

It's finally starting, and we can't wait to show what we can do in the Champions League. With the league match against Klagenfurt being postponed, we tried to train to prepare for the Champions League as best as we could. Sparta coach Lars Friis is doing really well and has qualified for the competition with his team in a similar way to us. They were really convincing, just as they have been in their league, with a clear 3-4-2-1 system and winning eleven of their 13 matches this season. The match in Prague will definitely not be easy, and we'll have to play at a very high level there to get something.

Pepijn Lijnders

We clearly want to start the competition with a win. Sparta will see it the same way though, especially in front of their own fans. We have shown against Twente and others that we can cope with that. They have made a good start to the season and are still unbeaten in the league. They will definitely go into the match with a lot of confidence and energy. We are doing very well though too and have put in some good performances.

Kamil Piatkowski