Feyenoord Drops Out of Champions League Top Ranking After 1-3 to Red Bull Salzburg

A Horrible End for Feyenoord in the Champions League.

Feyenoord’s Champions League hopes collided when they were thrashed 1-3 by Red Bull Salzburg . The Rotterdam side played in De Kuip and could not catch up with the Austrians, who now enlisted the Dutch coach Pepijn Lijnders – who scored his first Champions League goals in Salzburg’s first season as coach.

That defeat moves Feyenoord down to 21st in the standings. A victory here would have sent them climbing to ninth and almost assured themselves a spot in the quarterfinals. The road for Feyenoord has now become a bit tougher, with two games to go against elite teams such as Manchester City (26 November), Sparta Prague (11 December), Bayern Munich (22 January) and Lille (29 January).

Feyenoord’s Unexpected Lineup Choices

Feyenoord manager Brian Priske changed the team lineup on a surprising note for the game. Midfielder Luka Ivanusec took his place ahead of Antoni Milambo, who had been injured during the last domestic match against AZ.

Attacking posed more trouble for Priske. With both central strikers Santiago Gimenez and Ayase Ueda out with long-term injuries and their replacement Julián Carranza also out, Ibrahim Osman played in the centre of the pitch, and Bart Nieuwkoop performed an unusual role as a right winger.

Lijnders’ Salzburg Fights in the Champions League

Pepijn Lijnders, who signed for Red Bull Salzburg in the summer from Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool assistant, has had a rocky start at the Austrian club. After rallying themselves out of the qualifiers (and an embarrassing loss to FC Twente), Salzburg reached the Champions League group stage with three losses against Sparta Prague (3-0), Stade Brestois (0-4), and Dinamo Zagreb (0-2).

Salzburg Takes the Lead At Halftime

Feyenoord’s opener started off promisingly, but the Dutch side just couldn’t keep up with Salzburg’s pressure. During the opening half, Feyenoord had little to offer.

Shortly before halftime, things turned ugly. Goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther’s pass went wide of Igor Paixao’s cross and Salzburg took back the lead. The Salzburg striker Karim Konaté seized the opportunity and headed the ball into the back of the net to leave Feyenoord trailing 0-1.

Feyenoord’s Comeback Cut Short

This was compounded by Feyenoord’s Nadje getting sent off. After his foot had unwittingly fallen on an opponent’s ankle, VAR was invoked and he was sent off, leaving Feyenoord with 10 men.

Feyenoord took a point from a man down, but closed the deficit to 1-2. Hadj Moussa hit it beautifully off the outside of his foot, slipping it past Salzburg keeper Janis Blaswich.

But the return was short-lived. Shortly afterwards Salzburg were awarded a penalty after David Hancko was fouled in the box. Konaté went down for the penalty, but volleyed past the bar to make it 1-0.

After a minute, Salzburg’s Daouda Guindo cut short any last-ditch chance for Feyenoord with a long-range shot that curled into the top corner to secure the 1-3 score.

With this defeat, Feyenoord will need all of their remaining points to remain on the brink of Champions League qualification.