Preview: Red Bull Salzburg vs Club Brugge - prediction, team news, lineups

Red Bull Salzburg will host Club Brugge in the first leg of their Champions League Third Qualifying Round tie on Wednesday night.

The Austrian giants come into this clash at the Red Bull Arena on the back of a win over Brann in the previous round, while Brugge’s journey in the competition starts here.

Match preview

Playing for a place against the winners of the tie between Rangers and Viktoria Plzen, it is likely the progressors from this clash will be favourites to reach the league phase, which gets underway in September.

Both clubs have been regulars in the competition over recent years, making this one of the ties of the round, and there is very little to separate them heading into the first leg.

The two clubs finished second in their respective leagues last season, missing out on the title to clubs gaining in prominence, in the form of Sturm Graz and Union SG.

Salzburg’s failure to win the title meant they had to enter at the second qualifying round, but they had minimal difficulty in seeing off Brann, beating the Norwegian club 5-2 on aggregate, following a 4-1 win away from home in the first leg.

Red Bull’s influence over the club has made them UCL regulars, playing in qualifying at least in each of the last 14 seasons, and this could be a seventh straight campaign where they make it through to the competition proper.

This season will be their toughest yet though, with Thomas Letsch’s side needing to go through three rounds of qualifiers to get there, and they have not made an ideal start to their league campaign, drawing 2-2 with Reid at the weekend, needing a 96th-minute Yorbe Vertessen equaliser to snatch a point.

Salzburg were victorious when the two sides met for the only previous time in the Europa League last 32 back in 2018-19, as the Austrians were 5-2 winners over the two legs, and Brugge will need to put weekend disappointment behind them quickly if they are to avoid a repeat.

Nicky Hayen’s men were beaten 2-1 by Mechelen on Friday in the most surprising result across the opening two weeks of the Belgian Pro League season.

Brugge were victorious on the opening day, coming from behind to beat Genk 2-1 late on, a week after beating champions Union SG in the Super Cup, but there are some worries about the start they have made.

This will be a big test for a club that got all the way to the last 16 of the Champions League last season, before going down to Aston Villa, as the Belgians will seek to reach the competition for an eighth time in 10 seasons.

Brugge are already confirmed of league phase football in one of UEFA’s competitions, something they are well accustomed to, having qualified for Europe in every season since 1994, but they have not faced as challenging a qualifier as this for some time.

Red Bull Salzburg Champions League form:

W D

Red Bull Salzburg form (all competitions):

W W D D

Club Brugge form (all competitions):

W W L

Team News

Salzburg’s injury list looks rather bleak at present, with important first-team players Karim Konate, Moussa Yeo, Takumu Kawamura and Justin Omoregie all nursing issues at present.

Aleksa Terzic will be available again after being suspended in the league at the weekend, but there will be no more sightings of promising Israeli youngster Oscar Gloukh in Salzburg colours, as he has left for Ajax.

Thankfully, the Austrians look to have unearthed another gem in Kerim Alajbegovic, who has arrived from Bayer Leverkusen, and at just 17, is already being given first-team minutes.

After already losing Maxim De Cuyper and Chemsdine Talbi to the Premier League, and Ferran Jutgla to Celta Vigo, the future of Brugge’s Ardon Jashari is still up in the air, with the young Swiss international yet to feature this season.

Joel Ordonez will return after serving a suspension in the defeat to Mechelen, but Gustaf Nilsson and Kyrian Sabbe are set to miss out with injury for the visitors.

Red Bull Salzburg possible starting lineup:

Schlager; Lainer, Gadou, Rasmussen, Kratzig; Bidstrup, Diabate, Kjaergaard; Vertessen, Onisiwo, Baidoo

Club Brugge possible starting lineup:

Mignolet; Spileers, Ordonez, Mechele, Seys; Onyedika, Reis, Vanaken; Forbs, Vermant, Tzolis

We say: Red Bull Salzburg 1-1 Club Brugge

While there are bigger names in this round of Champions League qualifying, this is possibly the most intriguing tie, between two clubs separated by very little.

Both clubs are regulars in the competition proper, so to see one fall so early will be devastating to the respective side, and it could be a tie that goes down to the wire.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.