Red Bull Salzburg v Arsenal FC, Wednesday 25/07/2007 – 7:00 p.m.
Red Bull Salzburg v LASK, Saturday 28/07/2007 – 7:30 p.m.
Red Bull Salzburg are aiming to bounce back from another disappointing weekend in a long-awaited midweek friendly versus Arsenal. A good showing against one of Europe’s best teams, in the match marking the reopening of the Bulls Arena, could be just the tonic for the Champions, who continued their patchy start-of-season form yesterday by dropping two points away at rivals Austria Vienna.
The 2-2 draw against a side reduced to ten men for the last 60 minutes was not good enough for Giovanni Trapattoni, who has been heard dubbing the encounter “the defeat against Austria.” The plan must now be for the Bulls to rejuvenate themselves on the specially-installed natural pitch against Arsene Wenger’s men, and then to go and gain a Bundesliga win on their usual artificial turf when hosting LASK on Saturday.
Over 31,000 fans are to come on Wednesday for a genuine football treat at the stadium that has been expanded in advance of EURO 2008. That figure is a sign of the enormous football fever sweeping the Salzburg region, as a Friendly Match in Austria has certainly not attracted such a significant attendance in living memory.
Arsenal are to complete their ten day training session in Styria on Wednesday and are expected to field a strong side. With one of Europe’s top clubs visiting, the Bulls are sure to face a useful test just days before their Champions League Qualifiers get underway.
An extract from Arsenal’s current squad list reads rather like a “Who’s who?” of the European footballing elite with Jens Lehmann, Philippe Senderos, Kolo Touré, Tomas Rosicky and Robin van Persie (to name a few) currently stationed in North London.
Arsenal’s successes include:
- 13 time English Champions
- 10 time FA Cup Winners
- 2 time League Cup Winners
- 12 time Community Shield Winners
- European Cup Winners' Cup Winners 1995
The match also marks a test for the natural pitch that is being installed specifically for this occasion on top of the artificial grass at the Bulls Arena.
This trial has been planned with UEFA as Salzburg minds think ahead to EURO 2008.
