THE Red Bull Salzburg side Celtic will play tomorrow are better placed to win the Europa League than they were when they reached the semi-finals last season due to the experience they have gained in the competition.
That was the prediction from former Salzburg midfielder Andreas Ivanschitz last night as he looked ahead to the Group B meeting between the two clubs in the Red Bull Arena tomorrow evening.
The Austrian champions took their French opponents Marseille, who they had beaten in their section, to extra-time in the second leg of the last four double header last term before losing out to a goal in the 116th minute.
Yet, Ivanschitz feels the side coached by Marco Rose, his one-time Mainz 05 team mate, will have benefitted from their extended run, during which they beat Real Sociedad, Borussia Dortmund and Lazio.
The ex-Rapid Vienna, Panathinaikos and Levante player believes his old club, who have had tens of millions of euros poured into them since being bought over by the energy drink company back in 2005, will harbour realistic ambitions of going all the way again in the 2018/19 campaign.
“It is still early in the season and difficult to accurately predict how Red Bull will do,” he said. “But this Salzburg team is definitely more experienced than the one that reached the semi-final last season.
“Most of the team has stayed together and they have strengthened by bringing in some new players. They can go far. Doing better than they did last season is a motivation for them.”
Ivanschitz, the 65-times capped Austria player who joined Salzburg shortly after they had been taken over by Red Bull, was surprised when Rose’s team failed to secure a place in the Champions League group stages.
But he feels their opening Europa League win against their sister club RB Leipzig in Germany last month shows how determined they are to do well in the competition they are involved in and how seriously they must be taken by Celtic.
“It is surprising that Red Bull haven’t qualified for the Champions League group stages,” he said. “They have deserved it so many times. They have come so close on so many occasions.
“They were so close against Red Star Belgrade this season. They were winning 2-0 in the second-half of the second leg of the play-off after a double from Dabour and then conceded a goal and let their opponents back into it. They missed out on away goals.
“It was a pity because they were playing so well. They have tried to get into the Champions League on 11 occasions.
“But they are right back on track. You could see that they really accepted the challenge of the Europa League in their first game against Leipzig. Their coach has done a really good job of motivating the players after the Champions League.”
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