Red Bull Salzburg 1-1 Bayern Munich (Adamu, 21′ | Coman 90′)
Just as it looked as though Red Bull Salzburg were about to cling onto momentous Champions League victory, up popped Kingsley Coman to burst their bubble.
Salzburg lined up in a diamond – fitting really, given the number of them populating their starting line-up, led by the sought-after centre forward Karim Adeyemi. The starting XI was comprised of 10 players aged 24 or under, with 36-year-old left-back and captain Andreas Ulmer single-handedly hoisting the average age beyond 23.
This, of course, is the Red Bull way. They buy young and sell high. Sadio Mane, Naby Keita, Patson Daka and Erling Haaland are alumni, so too Dayot Upamecano demoted to Bayern’s bench on his return for his part in Saturday’s shambolic 4-2 defeat to Bochum and Marcel Sabitzer. There is much to distrust about the energy drink’s foray into football – just ask fans of Salzburg’s other club Austria Salzburg – but their knack for sourcing stars of the future deserves much acclaim. Scouting is an art and Salzburg have mastered it.
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The team got even younger when 21-year-old Noah Okafor was replaced by 20-year-old Junior Adamu due to injury. If the early substitution was unwanted, Adamu’s impact was anything but. Adeyemi’s driving run had Lucas Hernandez panicking as though he’d accidentally hopped on a treadmill set to maximum speed and his pass was helped on its way by Brenden Aaronsen with Adamu skilfully bending a finish into the corner.
It was almost two moments later. Aaronsen, The American playmaker who Marcelo Bielsa has taken an apparent liking to, tip-toed away from a few sluggish Bayern challenges before forcing stand-in keeper’ Sven Ulreich into a smart stop down to his right.
With the exception of Ulmer, all of Salzburg’s starters were younger than their Bayern equivalents and given the zip that the Austrian’s played with, the age gap appeared obvious; Bayern looked positively ancient. Just before the break, Salzburg’s players and coach, Matthias Jaissle, himself a rookie at just 33, demanded a penalty after Adeyemi went flying after pinching the ball off Benjamin Pavard. Michael Oliver waved away the appeals.
FC Salzburg (4-1-2-1-2)
- Phillipp Kohn – 7
- Rasmus Kristensen – 7
- Oumar Solet – 8
- Maximilian Wober – 8
- Andreas Ulmer – 7
- Mohamed Camara – 8
- Brenden Aaronson – 7
- Nicolas Capaldo – 6
- Nicolas Seiwald – 6
- Noah Okafor – 6
- Karim Adeyemi – 8
Substitutes:
- Junior Adamu – 7
- Luka Sucic – 6
- Maurits Kjaergaard – 6
Bayern Munich (3-4-3)
- Sven Ulreich – 6
- Benjamin Pavard – 7
- Niklas Sule – 5
- Lucas Hernandez – 5
- Serge Gnabry – 7
- Joshua Kimmich – 7
- Corentin Tolisso – 6
- Kingsley Coman – 8
- Thomas Muller – 6
- Leroy Sane – 6
- Robert Lewandowski – 5
Substitutes:
- Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting – 6
- Marcel Sabitzer – 6
Inevitably, Bayern improved after the break. They could barely fare much worse. Slowly, Salzburg began to retreat further and further back, like a Sven Goran Eriksson-era England tribute act. Phillipp Kohn denied Kingsley Coman with his fingertips before just about keeping Leroy Sane at bay.
After clinging on, Salzburg dipped into their energy reserves and almost nicked a second on the counter-attack. Ulreich made a fine save to deny the livewire Adeyemi and Pavard made an even better one to smuggle Adamu’s rebound behind.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, the punchline turned Champions League specialist was summoned and almost glanced a header into the bottom corner. Instead, it was left to Bayern’s match-winner from the 2020 final Coman, Bayern’s best player on the night, to force the leveller.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/aj3R1BA
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