Villarreal vs Red Bull Salzburg: Europa League Preview

I’m honestly expecting a bit of deja vu this week. A midweek match that has a controlled result that sees us advance in Europe followed by a rather ugly league match against a good opponent where Unai is okay with a draw. Not a week that causes dancing in the streets but one that’ll be good enough for now, I think. We’ve got a 2-0 lead in this tie but that’s the sort of thing that can be very dangerous in Europe. If you come out trying to defend your lead from the get go and the other team grabs an early goal, you suddenly have yourself a dog fight.

I won’t do a full on preview because we just did one of those last week and the meat of the information on Salzburg hasn’t really changed. Check that out here. I will point out to you that RB Salzburg played the second best team in their league last weekend, but the final scoreline of 4-2 was deceptive. Patson Daka had a hat trick by the 70th minute to make it 3-0 and then three goals were scored after the clock hit 90 to get the final result. Not the most strenuous match for them, but at least they couldn’t rest their starters all week preparing for us.

The idea here is pretty simple. Win or draw? We automatically advance. Only lose by one goal? We advance. Lose 2-0? Go to extra time. Lose by any other two goal scoreline? We go out on away goals.

No reason to be nervous, but no reason to take this one lightly, either.