We will not move from our way of doing things then either though.' Red Bull Salzburg sit second in Group G and only need a draw to reach the Champions League last 16 We know though that it can't always get better and better, and we will have years when we struggle a bit. 'We now attract great respect for what we do. There was a lot we had to do at many levels to convince people of our work. 'At the start, a lot of people didn't understand what we were doing or were dissatisfied. 'We are now the youngest team in the Champions League group stage with an average age of around 22 years old,' says Freund. Only Rangnick's former team RB Leipzig and Chelsea, coached by one of his disciples in Thomas Tuchel, have completed more 'pressed sequences', according to Opta. Salzburg's focus is on buying and developing youth and they rarely sign players over 23, while Rangnick's counter-pressing legacy lives on, with the club the third most efficient at the practice in the Champions League group stage this season. The energy drinks brand, who have since relinquished ownership of the Austrian outfit but remain their major sponsor, implemented a rebrand when they bought the club in 2005, though it was Rangnick's arrival that brought a number of principles still prevalent today. The philosophy at Salzburg changed in 2012 when Ralf Rangnick - now interim boss at Manchester United - arrived at the club as director of football, the first of a number of roles the German would occupy with Red Bull. Ralf Rangnick became Red Bull Salzburg's director of football in 2012, moving on to RB Leipzig in 2015 On Wednesday, however, instead of supplying the continent's elite, Salzburg have a chance to join them with a place in the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time.Īdeyemi, who scored on his Germany debut in September, has netted three times in five group games to put Salzburg on the verge of becoming the first Austrian side to progress from the competition's opening round since Sturm Graz in 2000-01.Ī draw at home to Sevilla in their Group G finale will earn Salzburg's band of young, promising future stars a spot in the last 16. When it is time, he will take the next step in his career.' He has the opportunity with us to get a lot of playing time at a high level. 'He knows too though what he has with us and how important it is for him to develop step by step. 'A player like Karim attracts interest from a lot of good clubs, of course,' Red Bull Salzburg sporting director Christoph Freund tells BBC Sport. Before him Naby Keita, Dayot Upamecano and Sadio Mane - and many others in between. Before 19-year-old Germany international Adeyemi it was Erling Braut Haaland.

2022.09

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