Test match: Salzburg beat Liverpool

Apart from the competitive matches, the Bundesliga leaders did not lose to the “Reds” after a 2-2 draw at Wallis-Siesenheim in the summer of 2020. The match was won by 19-year-old Slovenian Benjamin Sisko (31).

And Cisco was also the one who could score earlier. However, the striker shot over it from a good position (12) and failed against Liverpool’s Adrian (26). As a result of this action, Fernando missed a six-meter margin next to the goalkeeper’s goal. On the English side, Darwin Nunez, the successor to Sadio Mane, who moved to Bayern Munich, came close to scoring two goals. The Uruguayan striker’s heart hit the top of the crossbar (25) and kicked it (29).

As a result, it was left up to the hosts to provide. After a great interaction with Noah Okafor across several stops, Sisko completed the corner from twelve metres. Luka Sucic (33) and once again Fernando (34) failed to close the sack prematurely.

The balance was in the air

After the squad change, pressure increased from Liverpool, who started with Salzburg’s Naby Keita – especially after bringing in the majority of the starting line-up, including Mohamed Salah, an hour later. Goalkeeper Nico Mantel showed all his skills when Luis Diaz (63) and Roberto Firmino (85) scored. The last attack by the English, where the tie was in the air, went unrequited. The two teams gave each other nothing over the course of 90 minutes, and there were tough duels several times.

Salzburg took a lot of self-confidence with them, as well as for the Champions League, which begins in about a month and a half. As in 2020 and 2021, Liverpool moved to their training headquarters in Saalfelden for a week. The first mission of the new season awaits on Sunday with the Community Shield match against champions Manchester City. Salzburg already have their third competitive game against them on Saturday, winning at Sturm Graz after the start of the cup, and the league against Austria Vienna went well.

“It was an excellent match,” Okafor summed up. “We set out to win, and we did, with a bit of luck in the end.” In competitive matches, he had two narrow defeats (3:4, 0:2) in a head-to-head duel in 2019.

In contrast, there was no sense of accomplishment for WAC. The Carinthians actually managed to endure in the 0:5 draw against AC Milan at the Wörthersee stadium in Klagenfurt. Raphael Lied (39 minutes), Ante Rebek (42 minutes), Junior Messias (57 minutes), Yassin Adly (60 minutes) and Mathieu Gabia (66 minutes) ensured clear conditions.