Football
Red Bull Salzburg reveal how to deal with a big sporting occasion
Ahead of their trip to Champions League holders Liverpool, Red Bull Salzburg reveal how to prepare for a major European night and their plan to cause an upset at Anfield.
On the same night the likes of Barcelona and Dortmund took centre stage, Red Bull Salzburg – who had spent the past decade struggling to make the group stages – made up for lost time like a side possessed in their opening Champions League match at home against Genk.
Hitting five goals before half time, including a hat-trick for 19-year-old hotshot Erling Haaland (his fourth of the season), Die Mozartstädter went on to win 6-2.
The coaching and playing staff celebrate on the Salzburg pitch
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Led by their charismatic coach Jesse Marsch – who is making history by becoming the first American ever to manage in the Champions League – Salzburg's young guns sent out a statement that echoed across the continent and beyond.
Next up is a blockbuster trip to Anfield where they face Champions League holders Liverpool. Here, Jesse and some of the squad reveal exactly what it takes to rise to the big occasion, and how they plan on stopping Jürgen Klopp's men on October 2.
How to mentally prepare in the dressing room
Haaland [centre] and Szoboszlai [right] have used meditation to help focus
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Dominik Szoboszlai, midfielder: “Before a game I always drink three or four litres of water, so I don’t cramp up, and listen to what the coach says I need to do. Then I concentrate on what’s to come. [Erling] Haaland is also focused like this – before every game he meditates, and in the dressing room before the Genk game I actually meditated with him. In the end he scored three and I scored one, so now we’ll have to meditate before every big game. Thinking about nothing is key – let things leap from your mind."
Patson Daka, striker: “I prepared for the Genk game differently to normal games because the Champions League is something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. There was just more focus because I didn't know what to expect. I like to meditate a lot before a game, and I pray for peace of mind and to protect me against injury. I also drink Red Bull before I go for the game. It helps me."
Jesse Marsch, manager: "Game day is for the players – I actually think coaches get in the way. There are occasions when unexpected things happen in a match and a coach has to manage that situation effectively, but I want my players to go out there and feel free. If they’re constantly feeling judged then it's a block for them to make mistakes and learn from them.
The most important thing around big games is that it’s quiet, that it’s not overly emotional. We enjoy the moment, we go for the moment but we aren’t afraid of the moment."
How to conquer nerves on the pitch
Hungary's Dominik Szoboszlai celebrates his first Champions League goal
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Dominik Szoboszlai: “In the first 10 minutes I need to touch the ball as many times as possible, and feel the game, feel the players around me, and then I am confident. I'll think ‘OK I didn’t make a mistake’, and then go and break between the opponent's defence and midfield line to do a skill, shot or through pass.
Then, after 15 minutes you can take control of the game. By then you know the ball, you know the pitch. This is what the top guys do. I like [Toni] Kroos and [Paul] Pogba. When I was younger I’d watch these guys on YouTube, to see how they are playing and where they are moving and playing easy in the first 15 minutes but then trying more long balls."
Rasmus Kristensen, defender: “I tried to approach [the Genk game] like any other game, but as soon as I stepped onto the pitch it felt a bit different because of the atmosphere and support from the fans, who were brilliant. Nerves will always be a part of the game for some players. It’s important to calm yourself down in big games and remind yourself that this is the Champions League, so of course the quality increases, but it’s important to keep your confidence. We’re here for a great experience but we’re here for the result, too."
Salah and Mané are world class and with their pace they can go past anyone. We have to make them slow down, make them a little bit weaker
Jesse Marsch: “We are young, we are aggressive, we are dynamic. There has been so much doubt built into the club and the city and the fans, because for 14 years they came just short of making the Champions League. I think a lot of the people who’d been through it in the past were very worried that history was going repeat itself. But one thing that’s really good about this group is that we have a lot of new players and I’m a new trainer, so we don’t all have that in-built disappointment and we’re excited to go after it, which was reflected in that performance."
How to use mental tricks
Players feed off of crowd energy, says Salzburg defender Rasmus Kristensen
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Rasmus Kristensen: “You can use the crowd’s energy. It makes you forget about being tired because your adrenaline is pumping also from the fans and the whole atmosphere, which helps when you’re in a tough place. These European nights have something special about them."
Dominik Szoboszlai: “Believe in yourself. When you trust you are a good player then you can do anything. In those first 15 minutes just play it easy. If you have to play it back to the goalkeeper then do it, but don’t make a mistake. This is what I remind myself of before every big game."
Erling Haaland: “We are fearless. We are not afraid of anything, and we always want to attack and score. When you have hungry players around you, it is easy to play with them as they want the same as you. We want to score all the time and achieve something."
Patson Daka: “As a striker I think the most important thing is to have patience and belief. Stay positive and you will eventually score, no matter how the ball comes. Even when you do miss a chance you need to give yourself the benefit of doubt – tell yourself ‘I knew I wouldn’t score that goal’ and carry on."
Jesse Marsch: “I will use stories of other athletes and sports to help expand the team understand what they can achieve. I recently told them about how Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile in 1954. At one point everyone in the world at one time was trying to break it, and for years they couldn't, until Bannister did. Within 18 months, 23 people had broken the record as well. That’s the power of the psyche. As soon as people knew it was possible they did it. Whether it’s fatigue or breaking barriers, our bodies and minds can do more than we think they can."
How to approach a big game tactically
Red Bull Salzburg duo Erling Haaland and Dominik Szoboszlai
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Dominik Szoboszlai: "Before the Genk game we were talking about how we have to press like we do in [Austrian Bundesliga]. We had to try and see how possible it was to press them, but in every situation we won the ball nine times out of 10. We were pressing really fast and reading what they are doing. If it wasn’t working, we’d probably have sat a little deeper. I don’t know how we will play vs Liverpool, but they have quality and can play out around us if we don’t press very well, so we need to commit to it."
Rasmus Kristensen: "Football nowadays is so good for analytics that you can prepare against anyone in detail. But with a player like Sadio Mané, speaking about it is not enough. You have to feel it in the game, because you could easily say, ‘Mané is likely to go onto his left’, and you try that and he goes to his right, or he goes back onto his left and beats you anyway. You see that so many times with these players in England."
Jesse Marsch: "We have principles in every stage of the game, be it set pieces or the first 30 minutes, and we take these tactical principles and we adapt them to our opponent. We try to find areas of the field where we have advantages, either through matchups or tactics, and we try to exploit those for 90 minutes, and strive to play the version of what we want the game to look like. Against the best opponents obviously we’re not always capable of doing that, so there always have to be fallbacks."
How to win your one-on-one duel
Denmark's Rasmus Kristensen gets to grip with his opposite number
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Erling Haaland: “I don’t think you can train to play against [Van Dijk], but you can train on things that can maybe trick him or set him out of position. We all have to be at our best ever, every player, to have a chance against this team."
Rasmus Kristensen: "I often manage to win my one vs one by putting pressure on the ball. I’m able to be aggressive, to get quick contact on the ball and be physical. I’ll do what I can to bring the situation to my advantage.
Try to destroy the other player’s game by making them do something they're not used to or don't want to do. That can even be without the ball, like tracking a lot of their offensive runs. Go deep and stay tight, not a lot of wingers like it. It’s like a chess game, because if a winger or defender goes forward then I know I can move into that space."
When a winger stops with the ball I try to read the situation and body language but most of all I watch the ball. I also don't get too deep in my own body position, and too deep with my knees as otherwise it can be difficult to sprint off fast, so I stand tall and keep on my toes."
Patson Daka: "Think ahead of a defender. React faster than they can think. Keep moving because defenders don’t like you moving them away from their position. Decide what you’re going to do before the ball comes in to you.
Pressure also affects players in different ways. Normally I don’t get frustrated if a defender is trying to provoke me, or hit me, because I know that they’re scared. In a recent game a defender hit me with his elbow when I was running into space. I didn’t have the ball. He just tried to frustrate me, so I turned to him and said ‘OK, you can try to do whatever you want to hit me or something, but I’m going to hurt you by scoring’, and I did."
Jesse Marsch: "There's a famous saying in American Football that goes: ‘Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing’. That’s not my belief, but in the heat of the moment I remind myself of that line. For example, ahead of a recent league game [when Salzburg came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 against LASK] I told the team that the result didn’t matter. But then at half time I was so driven to help them understand what this game was going to require I basically demanded that they had to get a result, and the group responded really well."
How to cope with the 'Power of Anfield'
Jesse Marsch became the first American to manage in the Champions League
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Erling Haaland: "I have never been to Anfield but I think it is maybe one of the best atmospheres in the world and I look forward to playing there. It will be a tough game but they are only humans, like us, so nothing is impossible. We have to be honest and say, Liverpool are the world’s best team as they won the Champions League and Napoli are also very good but we beat them at home last year so everything is possible."
Patson Daka: "Everyone is looking forward to the game because we all hear about the atmosphere at Anfield. I love to watch Liverpool on TV and see the enthusiasm of the fans, so to show how we can conduct ourselves playing away in that kind of stadium – the pressure, the fans, against one of the best teams in the world – would be great for us mentally. And in football anything can happen. They are human beings and they can make mistakes."
Love that you’re in that environment, enjoy it. The more negativity comes at you, feed off it.
Rasmus Kristensen: "These mental things are so difficult to control and all about trust, playing with a clear mind and trying to forget sometimes who you’re playing against and where you’re playing. No matters where you play in the world, or which stadium, it will always come down to 11 vs 11 on the pitch. Trust is important. You have to be confident in yourself and be confident in your team and the tactics, or it will get really difficult for you out there."
Jesse Marsch: "There’s nothing you really can do [to prepare] for these special environments, it’s so powerful. I try to tell to the team in moments like these, 'don’t fear it, love it, love that you’re in that environment, enjoy it. The more negativity comes at you, feed off it.' Fearlessness is always a key element for success in professional sports. The one nice thing about coaching young players is that they’re inherently fearless. One of our strengths is our youthfulness and our naivety, but we’re going to find a way to use that as an advantage."
How to thwart Klopp’s Gegenpressing and the 'Fab Three'
Patson Daka could potentially lock horns with Virgil Van Dijk
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Dominik Szoboszlai: "I don’t know, maybe we can press high, or they play us out and we have to be a bit careful and go from right to left and left to right. It’s not so easy but we can do it."
Rasmus Kristensen: "I don’t think the way we will approach the game will be different but maybe due to the quality of Liverpool we are forced to play a bit different. But from our perspective we want to go for it.
To not get out-dribbled one single time in a whole game [by these guys] is ridiculous because it will happen. If you play football you know the difference between watching on television and playing for real, it’s much tougher down there – Salah and Mané are really world class players and with their pace they can go past anyone. Win your duels if possible, make them slow down, make them a little bit weaker, try and get an advantage point of course if you have a chance. But with good players like this you may need backup for two-on-one, as one-on-one is sometimes too difficult. I am really looking forward to the challenge."
Patson Daka: "Football is full of surprises. The more they attack, the more room there will be for us to penetrate, as sometimes you can get carried away and forget about defending. If we’re clever enough we can utilise that opportunity.
As a striker in particular, it’s a motivation to know you’re going to play against one of the best defenders in the world [Van Dijk]. You never know when he’ll have the best game and his team-mate might not. We need to focus on what can we do to help each other, it’s going to take something special to win."
Jesse Marsch: "The difficultly of playing against Liverpool is that all of the things that we are good at, they are better than us at! It makes the matchup incredibly difficult. So our strategy will be very important. We always try to focus on understanding the opponents’ strengths and weak points, but the better the team, the better our strategy has to be."
And finally... what to listen to before the game
AC/DC's Highway to Hell helps fuel Salzburg's rock 'n' roll football
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Erling Haaland: “I will drive home from the last training session before the game and listen to the Champions League song. It is a song I have been listening to since a little kid, and it is maybe my favourite song. Hearing it in the stadium was amazing."
Dominik Szoboszlai: "I have Hungarian music on my earpods. But in the dressing room it’s got to be high intensity. Electro."
Patson Daka: "My favourite song before a game is Yo Maps – Season Yanga."
Rasmus Kristensen: "In the dressing room, I’m the DJ, I’m the judge, I pick the songs. One of the best to play before a game is ACDC - Highway to Hell, and also Danish rap."
Jesse Marsch: "I’m not Afraid – Eminem. It’s the message of the song but I’m also a rap fan. [Have you heard Clint Dempsey’s rap song?] I haven’t, but I know Clint is very into rap, I need to check it out."
Haaland is one of Europe's most in-form strikers
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With Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions League for the first time ever, cameras have been allowed behind the scenes to follow the clubs every move for a new eight-part documentary series produced by Red Bull Media House and A1now.tv. Learn more about the series here.