Champions League | League Stage

Oct 23, 2024 at 8pm UK

Red Bull Arena

Salzburg vs Dinamo Zagreb

Match preview

Now that the new manager has settled in, Salzburg are going through a rough patch under the guidance of former Liverpool assistant Lijnders. His former boss, Jürgen Klopp, will soon be lending a hand in Salzburg as Red Bull's new Head of Global Soccer.

It'd be great to see a bit of inspiration from the German soon, as Salzburg have already been humbled by two relatively modest opponents in Europe. They lost 3-0 to Sparta Prague on the opening matchday and were hit for four without reply by Brest earlier this month.

With no points, no goals and seven conceded, the young Austrians – who join Bologna, Shakhtar Donetsk and BSC Young Boys as one of just four teams waiting for a first goal of the league phase – are 34th in the 36-team UCL rankings, only performing better than Young Boys and Slovan Bratislava so far.

Salzburg used to win Austrian Bundesliga titles easily, but their performance has also declined at home over the past year. They're currently in fourth place in the early-season standings, but they have two games in hand on leaders Sturm Graz, whom they're six points behind.

A nervy 2-1 win over Rhiendorf Altach – where two goals in the final 10 minutes reversed a 1-0 deficit – couldn't have come at a better time for the Austrian powerhouses. They're at risk of suffering a sixth straight home loss in the Champions League proper, although they did conquer FC Twente and Dynamo Kiev in qualifying.

As Salzburg were trounced by French opposition on matchday two, Dinamo Zagreb fans might have been forgiven for expecting their side to suffer a similar fate against Monaco, having witnessed Bayern Munich blow their players away in a 9-2 defeat on matchday one.

The visit of Les Monegasques was painful for different reasons, though. The Croatian side were on track for an unexpected win when Petar Sucic and Martin Baturina put them two goals ahead, but then Dinamo Zagreb threw their advantage away as Mohammed Salisu and Denis Zakaria dramatically drew Monaco level.

It was too much for manager Nenad Bjelica, who got sent off at the end of the match for two bookable offences. The Citizens had to settle for a point, which was a good result given their position in the early stages of the Champions League.

In an ironic twist, it was Bjelica's team that had to come back strong to secure a 2-2 draw with Istra 1961 in their league matchup over the weekend. This result extended their unbeaten streak to five matches but left them four points behind the leaders, Hadjuk Split, in the Croatian top-flight table.

Dinamo Zagreb have scored 16 goals and conceded 19 across their last seven games, which has been great entertainment. They're now preparing to meet Salzburg for the ninth time, but the Croatians have only won one of their eight head-to-heads so far.

Recent Performance

Red Bull Salzburg Champions League form:WDWDLL

Red Bull Salzburg form (all competitions):DWWLLW

Dinamo Zagreb Champions League form:WWLD

Dinamo Zagreb form (all competitions):LWWDWD

Injuries and suspensions

Salzburg

23 Joane Gadou

16 Takumu Kawamura

45 Dorgeles Nene

20 Edmund Baidoo

49 Moussa Yeo

11 Fernando

21 Petar Ratkov

81 Gaoussou Diakité

Dinamo Zagreb

No sidelined players

Possible starting lineups

Red Bull Salzburg possible starting lineup:

Blaswich; Dedic, Piatkowski, Baidoo, Terzic; Kjaergaard, Gourna-Douath, Bidstrup; Baidoo, Konate, Gloukh

Dinamo Zagreb possible starting lineup:

Zagorac; Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Torrente, Pierre-Gabriel; Ademi, Misic, Sucic; Baturina; Petkovic, Kulenovic