How Club Brugge managed to tame the mighty Red Bulls

Red Bull Salzburg returned to European action this week with their tie against Club Brugge in the UEFA Europa League round of 32 tie. The Austrian champions overcame a potentially tough group stage encounter beating the likes of RB Leipzig and Celtic to progress as group winners.

Having avoided a tougher draw, Salzburg would have fancied their chances against the Belgian club to complete the straight forward task of progressing to the next round, but Brugge were not going to roll over so easily. This feature will dissect and examine the different tactical aspects that were key in this game and how Brugge managed to silence the Red Bulls.

Red Bull Salzburg

Marco Rose lined up in his usual 4-3-1-2 looking to use his four dynamic midfielders to supplement his two in-form strikers. The full-backs would be used for width to try and get in behind the Brugge defensive line. Stefan Lainer and Andreas Ulmer have been in fine form for Salzburg this season and were instrumental in their victories against RB Leipzig and Celtic providing the impetus and supplying crosses that led to their goals.

Diadie Sammasekou and Xaver Schlager bring stability and protection in midfield while Hannes Wolf and Zlatko Junuzovic supplied industry and creativity to support the two strikers in Fredrik Gulbrandsen and Moanes Dabbur. The two strikers have been in scintillating form for Salzburg in the Europa League this season with 10 goals between them in the group stages. Their clinical finishing was expected to decide the outcome of the match.

Club Brugge

The Belgian club lined up in a 3-5-2 formation with the aim to try to remain compact in midfield and protect the defence whilst being able to counter-attack by winning the ball deep in their own half. Ivan Leko wanted his side to keep it tight and battle Salzburg in midfield to try and take the game to them. When the opportunity arose, the two full-backs would supply width for the two strikers.