Champions League: Salzburg drew 1-1 and scored a point against Chelsea

Until that evening, Graham Potter had not watched the Champions League match live. Not as a coach anyway. This is also rare when you coach clubs like Swansea, Östersund or Brighton. However, on Wednesday he made his debut as Chelsea manager – and that’s in the Champions League. This was requested on the day the United Kingdom apparently lost its eternal queen.

Potter – always trying to avoid a name match with Harry – had a few days to inoculate his team with his “magic”, the “pottery ball”. It seemed to be crowned with success for a long time. Chelsea did what you would expect from a team of this caliber in a duel against the Austrian champions on paper: they pressed. And how. However, it was Salzburg in the end that charmed again: (almost) without a chance, he was almost crushed by fast football in London – and ultimately the evening’s biggest winner in a 1-1 draw. Because Noah Okafor, who actually scored against Milan in the opening match, also scored at Stanford Bridge out of the blue and thus equaled the Blues’ lead by Raheem Sterling (48) – in the 75th minute. So it was a heroic point in an incredible defensive battle for Salzburg, Which remains in Group E, ahead of Chelsea.

Chasing the ball itself is Salzburg style. To harass the opponent and push him to mistakes. In this way, Salzburg’s appearance as a guest at Chelsea was unusual. Because Salzburg did not hunt. She locked herself out of necessity. He tried to withstand the pressure of the Londoners, even after another failure – striker Fernando was injured in the warm-up and Benjamin Sisco started for him. The pressure was great. Chelsea, whose new owners replaced Potter Tuchel after 100 days of takeover, wanted to show they were better than they looked after defeating Zagreb.

They let the ball run and avoid putting pressure on Salzburg. Attack after attack rolled into the Salzburg goal. However, it wasn’t really that serious. He missed the goal mount in centimeters with a shot (40), but Cisco Kepa goalkeeper also scored on the other side (41). Even after the change, little has changed – except for Sterling’s goal, who hit a “rebounding” cross in and around the Salzburg penalty area. But Salzburg responded through Okafor – and after the match it was almost as calm in the arena as at the moment of the Queen’s mourning. “It was a tough match, but in the end it was a good team effort. We fought without limits. It paid off and I am glad I was able to help the team achieve my goal. We will take the point and take advantage of that. Keep pressing the gas”, summed up the Salzburg scorer .