Dream starts sets up win - and hope of progression!

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FC Red Bull Salzburg

·22 January 2026

Dream starts sets up win - and hope of progression!

Dominant 3-1 win over FC Basel

What a start to the game, and what a start to our competitive football in 2026! We gave our Swiss visitors no chance in our home match against FC Basel as we built on the strong performances at our winter training camp.

The 3-1 win moves us to six points in the league phase of the UEFA Europa League and keeps our chance of progressing intact. It will all come down to the final match next Thursday away at Aston Villa!

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Match summary

It couldn't have gotten off to a better start. After a misplaced pass by Daniliuc and a deflected shot from Kerim Alajbegovic, we were able to celebrate a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute. That wasn't all, as the Bosnian international unleashed one of his special wonder strikes to make it 2-0 just a few minutes later (12').

The stunned reigning Swiss champions had little to offer - managing just one (harmless) shot on Alex Schlager's goal in the first half, while we were dangerous almost by the minute. Sota Kitano (17'), Frans Krätzig (22'), and Yorbe Vertessen, who hit the woodwork (32'), all came extremely close to extending our lead to three goals.

We finally managed that in the 35th minute as Krätzig curled a shot into the far corner for his first goal as a Red Bull to put the game beyond doubt. Basel were naturally forced to act and made a triple substitution at half-ftime – as even captain Shaqiri left the field.

The visitors were significantly better in the second half, getting (for the time being) an equal share of the play. Agbonifo gave Basel hope when, in the 56th minute, he cut inside from the wing and curled a shot into the far corner, catching our defence off guard. Our boys passed the mental test and didn't let the goal unsettle them.

We continued to threaten in attack too. Alajbegovic once again showcased his signature sharpshooting (62'), but this time the crossbar denied him a goal. An effort from Soumaila Diabate from the edge of the box also put Basel goalkeeper Hitz under pressure (68'). Edmund Baidoo almost added another goal from a tight angle in the final quarter of an hour (77'), while the visitors from the Rhine offered considerably less in attack in the final period and the score remained 3-1.

The win sets up a 'final' away against Aston Villa next Thursday 29 January. With a win in England and the right results in the other matches, advancing to the knockout stage of the UEFA Europa League is still possible!

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In the first half, we barely gave Basel any room to breathe. Whenever they had the ball, we immediately won it back with superb counter-pressing. In the second half, there was a brief period where we lost our grip on the game. We got back into it again towards the end. All in all, it was a very good performance from this young team – exactly how we wanted to start the new year!

Thomas Letsch

We got off to a very good start, even asides from the two goals – we caused Basel a lot of problems. After going 3-0 up, we eased off a bit, which we can't do - instead, we have to focus on the next goal. All in all, though, we saw it out well. Now we're off to Birmingham and want to build on today's performance – we have nothing to lose!

Kerim Alajbegovic

Match data

Line-ups & substitutions

FC Salzburg: Schlager – Trummer, Gadou, Schuster, Krätzig – Diabate – Bidstrup © (90.+1 Lukic), Kitano (75. Yeo) – Baidoo (90.+1 Konate), Vertessen (58. Onisiwo), Alajbegovic (90.+1 Bischoff) FC Basel 1893: Hitz – Vouilloz, Adjetey, Daniliuc, Schmid (89. Cisse) – Bacanin, Leroy (46. Koindredi) – Agbonifo, Shaqiri © (46. Ajeti), Traore (46. Kacuri) – Kaio Eduardo (72. Soticek)

Goals: Alajbegovic (4./12.), Krätzig (35.) - Agbonifo (56.) Attendance: 6,741 Referee: Anastasios Papapetrou (GRE) Yellow cards: Kitano (45./Foul) - Agbonifo (37./Foul), Bacanin (40./Foul), Vouilloz (50./Foul)