Straight into the deep end in Bergen

In partnership with

FC Red Bull Salzburg

·22 juillet 2025

Straight into the deep end in Bergen

Away qualifier to start 2025/26

In the far northern city of Bergen, founded 1000 years ago by Vikings, our 2025/26 European journey will begin. On Wednesday 23 July our Red Bulls face Norwegian runners-up SK Brann. The first leg of the second qualifying round kicks off at 19:00!

The first obvious impression of our opponents is that they are in full playing rhythm - in the middle of the Eliteserien season. Let's not forget though that we were up against some superb opponents at the end of June in the FIFA Club World Cup. Our boys also played friendly matches last week against Azerbaijan champions FK Qarabag (2-1) and Championship club Derby County (1-2) in order to get in gear. Last weekend, Freyr Alexandersson's side suffered a slip-up with a defeat to KFUM Oslo that sent them down to third. Bodo/Glimt are now hot on the heels of the Bergen side - one point down with two games in hand. Brann showed the previous week what they are capable of with a 3-1 win against league leaders Viking. You therefore don't need to know that Brann translates as 'fire' to know it will be a fierce test for our boys. The compact and atmospheric Brann stadium will see the Norwegians supported by close to 17,000 fans, with just a few remaining seats available. You can read more about the opponents, their squad and history in our opposition analysis.

Vidéos OneFootball

It is our clear aim on Wednesday to get into a good position for the second leg. We want to seal our progress a week later on 30 July in the Red Bull Arena with your support! Tickets for the battle to make the third qualifying round are available on open sale.

to the online Ticket Shop

Progression against SK Brann would be vital as it would also ensure we qualify for the league phase of the UEFA Europa League at a minimum. Our next step has also been determined. The winners of the clash will face Club Brugge in the next UEFA Champions League qualifying round. The losers will face the winners of RSC Anderlecht (BEL) vs. BK Häcken (SWE) in the third qualifying round. That is all ahead of us though - with Wednesday evening the first step …

SK Brann vs. FC Red Bull Salzburg on TV, live stream and live text updates

The second qualifying round is not marketed by UEFA, which makes the TV rights different to usual and also means we can play with our usual logo. Our clash against SK Brann can be watched live and for free on ServusTV and ServusTV On. We will also provide live text updates.

Injury news

Not available for the match are Takumu Kawamura (knee), Karim Konate (knee), Valentin Sulzbacher (thigh), Moussa Yeo (knee) and Christian Zawieschitzky (calf). Yorbe Vertessen suffered a knee injury against Derby County, and he is a doubt along with John Mellberg (knee).

Views

We are all looking forward to it, as the match against Brann will start an exciting season - in which we want to do the best we can in three competitions. We know that Brann are one of Norway's top teams and recently beat the league leaders at home. They are very strong at home usually and have a great stadium, so it will be important to start well there. It is definitely an advantage to us that we have three competitive matches behind us at the Club World Cup, and we had good opportunities there to find our way as a team.

Thomas Letsch

It is definitely not a disadvantage that we have the second leg in Salzburg. We will do everything we can to put ourselves in a good position. We know that we are facing a strong and well-gelled team. The good thing is that we have a few competitive matches behind us at the Club World Cup. The last few weeks didn't really feel like a pre-season.

Frans Krätzig