Defeated by Real Madrid's sheer class

In partnership with

FC Red Bull Salzburg

·22 de janeiro de 2025

Defeated by Real Madrid's sheer class

1-5 away defeat at the Bernabeu

We made a promising start but soon were outshone by the Spanish side of stars. On the seventh matchday of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League, we were beaten 1-5 by reigning champions Real Madrid. The way we took the game to the reigning holders in the first half should give us encouragement ahead of the months to come, with Mads Bidstrup getting to enjoy a deserved consolation with a late volley.

We have to thank the wonderful 4,500 Salzburg fans who came to cheer on our Red Bulls in Madrid - a new record away following for our club!

Vídeos OneFootball

Match summary

Thomas Letsch's promise that we would perform bravely proved to be not an empty one. We unsettled the home crowd by taking the game to Real! Our Red Bulls had nearly all the attacks in the opening ten minutes, with a good chance coming Oscar Gloukh's way, which he slipped just wide (10').

After the opening 15 minutes, Real Madrid were slowly finding their footing - and the opening goal suddenly came against the run of play. We lost the ball and Rodrygo was soon in to convert a cross (23').

Our boys continued their brave approach despite conceding the opener, but the goalscorer added a second in superb style in the 34th minute - pouncing on Jude Bellingham's backheeled pass with a wonderful drive.

The hosts were boosted by the two-goal lead, and they grabbed a stranglehold of possession. It remained 2-0 at the break.

We started the second half on the wrong foot due to an error at the back. Kylian Mbappe pounced on Janis Blaswich losing the ball at his feet and tapped in for a third (48'). The momentum was now truly with the hosts.

There was one member of Carlo Ancelotti's terrific attacking trio that was yet to strike this evening: Vinicius Junior. The megastar made up for that in the 55th minute, breaking free and curling in stunningly for 4-0.

Real were right in the groove and left us chasing them down to try to prevent any further strikes. One more did come the way of Vinicius Junior as he made it 5-0 on another quick attack (77').

We had not given up though. Mads Bidstrup smashed a consolation goal with a tidy volley in the final few minutes (85')!

We therefore ended the match 1-5 down, which leaves us officially out of the UEFA Champions League. We want to conclude the league phase in the best style possible when we face Atletico Madrid this coming Wednesday, 29 January. Tickets for the clash are still available on open sales online.

Views

It always hurts to lose 1-5, even if you are at Real Madrid. We made a very good start to the match, and everything went just as we wanted in the first 15 minutes - but we missed the chance to get an early goal. In the phases when we worked as a team, we were really good. The unfortunate third goal took it out of us, however. We got tired and could not close them down as easily. There were moments in which we have to respect the opponents' class, but also there were goals we should have defended better on.

Thomas Letsch

We were really brave in the first few minutes, and we were calm on the ball - it's tough against opponents like that though if you don't use your chances. We did quite okay in the first half. You play football to get the chance to play against the best, and to do that in a stadium like that against these kind of attackers was certainly fun.

Samson Baidoo

Line-up

Substitutions

Piatkowski for Nene (63'), Diambou for Yeo (63'), Kawamura for Capaldo (82'), Gourna-Douath for Gloukh (82'), Ratkov for Daghim (88')

Yellow cards

None

Injury news

Not available for the match were Daouda Guindo (knee), Maurits Kjaergaard (ankle) and Karim Konate (knee).
New signing Karim Onisiwo was not eligible due to UEFA registration guidelines.