Club World Cup participants Red Bull Salzburg return for their first fixture of the new season away to SK Brann in the second round of Champions League qualifying on Wednesday.

This first leg, taking place at Brann Stadion in Bergen, will be the first meeting between the two clubs, as they both begin their quest to reach the league phase here.

Match preview

Entering the tie in the middle of their league season, Brann will be the much fresher and match fit of the two sides, and they enter this fixture in excellent form.

Freyr Alexandersson’s men have won their last three matches here at Brann Stadion, but they did slip up at the weekend, losing 2-0 at KFUM Oslo, slipping down to third, six points off the summit.

League leaders Viking were one of the clubs to come here and lose in recent weeks though, so the hosts will be keen to put the weekend defeat to one side in what is their first Champions League fixture for 17 years.

You have to go back to 2008-09 for the last time Brann entered UCL qualifying, but they were unable to reach the group stage, as Marseille stood in their way, after they had edged past Latvian club Ventspils.

The club has been in the Conference League in the past two seasons, but on both occasions, they failed to progress through qualifying, collapsing in Astana last season in the playoff round, squandering a 2-0 aggregate lead with 30 minutes remaining of the second leg.

Entering at this stage of the Champions League gives them a great chance of playing league phase football though, because Brann know they only need to win one tie to be sure of continental football in the autumn, because at the very worst they are guaranteed a Conference League playoff place.

It will be difficult against Champions League regulars Salzburg though, who are the best team entering at this stage.

The Austrians have reached the group stage/league phase in each of the last six seasons, and even represented Europe at the Club World Cup over the summer, but that adds minutes to the legs, and the Salzburg squad have not had much of a break this preseason.

Their CWC journey ended early, going out in the group stage, but it has still been a quick turnaround as they are now thrust back into competitive action less than a month after the end of last season.

Failing to win the Austrian Bundesliga for a second season running means Salzburg have to go through three rounds of treacherous qualifiers to make it through, a year after beating Twente and Dynamo Kiev to reach the league phase.

However, having a straightforward cup tie against Dietach at the weekend to kickstart their domestic season means manager Thomas Letsch can focus wholly on these two legs, in which they are the clear favourites.

SK Brann form (all competitions):

W L W D W L

Team News

Japhet Sery Larsen was banned at the weekend and Eivind Fauske Helland was sent off for Brann, but both will be available here, before the latter is suspended in their next league outing.

Niklas Castro (ankle), Sakarias Opsahl (foot), Jonas Torsvik (groin) and Fredrik Knudsen (knee) are all currently sidelined for the hosts, who may make one or two changes from the side that was beaten in Oslo on Saturday.

Saevar Magnusson scored on his first appearance for Brann earlier this month, even though he is yet to make his full debut for the club, but that could change this midweek.

Salzburg are set to be without Moussa Kounfolo Yeo, Karim Konate and Takumu Kawamura due to injury for this first leg, while there have also been no incomings of note in the transfer market.

Goalkeeper Alexander Schlager and Mads Bidstrup have both returned from recent injuries though, playing in the friendly against Derby County last week.

SK Brann possible starting lineup:

Dyngeland; Pedersen, Fauske Helland, Sery Larsen, Soltvedt; Gudmundsson, Kornvig, Myhre; Mathiasen, Magnusson, Hansen

Red Bull Salzburg possible starting lineup:

Schlager; Lainer, Gadou, Rasmussen, Kratzig; Nene, Diabate, Bidstrup, Gloukh; Vertessen, Ratkov

We say: SK Brann 1-2 Red Bull Salzburg

It has been 17 years since Brann competed at this level, and it is unlikely they will have enough to compete with Salzburg over the two legs, despite the Austrian side’s wobbles over the past two years.

The only issue for the visitors will be fatigue, but they have a big enough squad to rest and rotate here, and they will fancy their chances of taking a lead into the second leg.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Andrew Delaney

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