Key Klassiker win in championship group opener

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FC Red Bull Salzburg

·30 de março de 2025

Key Klassiker win in championship group opener

Well-earned away win!

Well, that feels good! We battled our way to a win at Vienna's Allianz Stadium in the first match of the ADMIRA Bundesliga championship group - a Yorbe Vertessen brace saw us seal the points with a gutsy performance.

We have therefore made up ground on second-placed Sturm Graz (who drew 1-1 with WAC) and remain four points behind league leaders Austria Vienna.

Vídeos OneFootball

Match summary

The opening phases of the Austrian Klassiker were wild, open and not too delightful to watch. Rapid gave their all to start on the front foot but struggled to create against our sturdy defence. We were able to threaten on the break, most notably via Vertessen, who was sent through on goal and denied by the Rapid goalkeeper's leg (10').

After a quiet spell, our boys seized control of the play just after the half-hour mark. Although further good opportunities went unused (Vertessen 28' and Dorgeles Nene 31'), we finally made one count. Nicolas Capaldo sent a great cross to the far post, where Leandro Morgalla nodded down and Vertessen smashed a superb strike into the corner of the net (37').

Rapid sought to respond immediately, and the half-time whistle was music to our ears. Things then quickly took a turn for the better in the second period …

Just three minutes after the restart, Aleksa Terzic raced down the left and sent a cross in to the far post, where Vertessen dispatched a deadly header to make it 2-0 (48'). The game livened up at both ends after that, but our boys increasingly took control with the hosts struggling to lay a punch on our defensive shield.

The final phases started with a bizarre incident as Rapid's Grgic took to the field again after receiving treatment, without realising that he had been substituted off in the meantime - and was promptly sent off for a second yellow card as a result. With his replacement on the pitch, the hosts continued with eleven players - but were still unable to threaten.

Our boys defended diligently and almost got a third goal during ten minutes of stoppage time. The 2-0 away win was therefore secured!

We are home next week (Sunday 6 April at 14:30) against Blau-Weiß Linz. Tickets for the clash will be available in our Online Ticket Shop, as usual.

to the online Ticket Shop

Views

It was a very good performance for us, on the whole. We controlled the play over the full 90 minutes, although we had a few problems off the ball in the first half. We changed things around, and the boys were sharper, more active and less reactive - and we were better able to use transition situations. To win here at Rapid is always a boost, and helps our confidence!

Thomas Letsch

It was an incredibly important win! We said ahead of the game that we have ten finals ahead - and the first one has been successfully finished. We saw today that we are a good team with plenty of quality. It was decisive that we had a good solid defence and were able to add the second goal. We are progressing step-by-step.

Mads Bidstrup

A good team performance was the key to success. We had to find ways around them at the start, as it wasn't so easy. We spoke at length about it during half-time and were much better in the second 45. It was an important win and a good start to the championship group!

Yorbe Vertessen

Line-up

Injury news

Diambou for Vertessen (85'), E. Baidoo or Yeo (90+1'), Ratkov for Onisiwo (90+1'), Guindo for Nene (90+6')

Yellow cards

Yeo (11' unsporting behaviour), Capaldo (75' foul), S. Baidoo (89' unsporting behaviour)

Injury news

Not available for the match were Takumu Kawamura (collarbone), Maurits Kjaergaard (ankle) and Karim Konate (knee).
Adam Daghim returned from Danish U21 action with a thigh injury, and Alex Schlager injured his adductors in training. Oscar Gloukh was out ill.