Returning empty handed from Lyon

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FC Red Bull Salzburg

·2 Oktober 2025

Returning empty handed from Lyon

0-2 away defeat

It was a tough one to take in the French culinary capital – we lost 0-2 away at Olympique Lyon, with the hosts the better team from the start. We therefore remain without points after Matchday 2 of the UEFA Europa League's league phase.

Match summary

The hosts put us under pressure right from the start. Maurits Kjaergaard threw himself into a shot, but the ball struck his arm and we could have no complaints about the French side getting a penalty. Sulc stepped up to the spot, but Alex Schlager dived the right way and stopped the underhit penalty with ease. The hosts continued to have the upper hand though - and soon took the lead. Ten minutes were on the clock when Lyon were gifted the ball out wide, had time to put a cross in and Satriano was able to easily head in for 1-0 (11'). Little changed after the goal, with Lyon well on top. Only after around 25 minutes of play could we slowly grow into the game and get the odd chance or two for an equaliser after Fonseca's side stepped down a gear - but no big opportunities came.

Video OneFootball

After the game restarted, the hosts continued to set the tone and soon were able to increase their lead. Stefan Lainer rescued us on the goal line before the ball was turned in soon afterwards by Ruben Kluivert (57'). Tolisso & Co continued to control the play without having to go to the limit. One of a few signs of life from our boys came with a good Alajbegovic effort (65'), but ultimately 'rien ne va plus' - nothing more would come our way. Time to move on, as this Sunday we host leaders SK Rapid Vienna in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga at 17:00 CEST.

Views

We lacked a few things today. We weren't brave enough, even when we were off the ball – and at the end of the day, you need a perfect day away in Lyon to beat them. At the same time, we had situations where we were confident enough to play bravely – and suddenly it worked. The big lesson is that we can take points at this level against teams like these if everyone performs at their best. That's where we need to get to.

Alex Schlager

We imagined it would go differently, of course. We wanted to be braver going into the game – we didn't manage that. After going 1-0 down, we were as good as them. In the second half, we made too many simple mistakes in our build-up play, and that gets punished at this level. These little things ultimately killed us.

Stefan Lainer

Match data

Line-ups & substitutions

Olympique Lyon: Greif – Kluivert, Clinton Mata, Niakhate, Tagliafico (68' Maitland-Niles) – de Carvalho, Tessmann (68' Morton), Tolisso (87' Merah) – Karabec (68' Fofana), Satriano (77' Molebe), Sulc FC Salzburg: Schlager © – Lainer, Gadou, Rasmussen, Terzic (82' Krätzig) – Diabate, Diambou (58' Kitano) – Yeo (58' Alajbegovic), Kjaergaard – Ratkov (68' Onisiwo), Vertessen (58' Baidoo)

Goals: Satriano (11'), Kluivert (57') Attendance: To follow Referee: Andris Treimanis (LVA) Yellow cards: Kluivert (90/Foul) - Diambou (51/Foul)

Injury news

Not available were the recovering Takumu Kawamura (knee) plus Karim Konate (knee), John Mellberg (knee) and Valentin Sulzbacher (ankle).
Mads Bidstrup was out due to a thigh injury sustained against WSG Tirol.