UEFA Europa League 2018/19 Tactical Analysis: Red Bull Salzburg vs Celtic

This tactical analysis originally featured on our network site redbullanalysis.com

FC Red Bull Salzburg went into the second round of the Europa League group stages against Scottish Champions Celtic off the back of three wins since their 3-2 win over RB Leipzig. Their run since beating their European rivals included a thrashing of Schwaz and Wolfsburg 6-0 and 4-1 respectively. Brendan Rodgers’ side were up against arguably their toughest opponents of the group stage and were hoping to come away with a point. In reality, this was a tactical battle between a defensive Celtic and an attacking Salzburg side. Attack versus defence. FC Salzburg were expected favourites and rightly so, but Celtic did not make it easy especially after going 1-0 up inside two minutes thanks to a well-taken goal by Odsonne Edouard.

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FC Salzburg lined up in their expected 4-1-2-1-2 formation. Salzburg made three changes with Zlatko Junuzović, Fredrik Gulbrandsen, and Cican Stanković dropping out with Hannes Wolf, Takumi Minamino and Alexander Walke coming into the side. The midfield quadrant of Amadou Diawara, Xaver Schalger, Hannes Wolf and Diadie Samassekou were reunited once again.

Celtic moved away from their tried and tested 4-2-3-1 into a 5-3-2 formation to counteract the attacking 4-1-2-1-2. Captain Scott Brown dropped out due to injury with Youssouf Mulumbu slotting into midfield. The Scottish champions went in with the strategy of playing a low block, counter-attacking style and use the pace and physicality of Odsonne Edouard and experience of Leigh Griffiths.

Celtic Power: Youssouf Mulumbu

Youssouf Mulumbu was Celtic’s key man. The Congolese midfielder with only his second appearance for Celtic this season had much to prove in the absence of Captain Scott Brown. The midfielder was tasked with the responsibility of marshalling FC Salzburg’s midfield quartet. Mulumbu’s heat map shows the majority of his activity right in front of his central defenders sweeping across channels. Keeping Hannes Wolf quiet was high on Celtic’s agenda.

The former West Brom midfielder patrolled his defensive third with his interceptions and marking. For 55 minutes of the game, he was successful in thwarting FC Salzburg’s attack. As we can see below Mulumbu anticipated the ball’s movement and was able to intervene on more than one occasion. Rather than allowing Mikael Lustig to deal with Minamino, the defensive midfielder steps in between anticipating a pass from the Salzburg right back.

Not only did this prevent FC Salzburg from playing their natural game, but also denied them space to deliver low crosses into the box. Neither striker is proficient at heading but thrives on quick, decisive crosses or through balls.