ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — In a significant moment for the Red Bull soccer club network, Jürgen Klopp’s future leadership began to take shape as Salzburg secured their first Champions League victory on Wednesday.
Salzburg triumphed with a 3-1 win against Feyenoord, marking a positive turnaround after a rough streak that saw a cumulative seven losses in the league stage of this prestigious tournament for both the Austrian team and Bundesliga’s Leipzig, both backed by Red Bull.
Leipzig had a particularly tough start, facing strong opponents early in the tournament, including a 1-0 defeat on their home ground to Liverpool, who currently lead the Champions League standings. Conversely, Salzburg had previously suffered setbacks, losing at home to Dinamo Zagreb and away to Sparta Prague.
Karim Konaté played a pivotal role in securing the victory at Feyenoord, scoring two goals. He narrowly missed earning a hat trick when his late penalty hit the crossbar. Following this victory, Salzburg finds itself positioned 30th out of 36 teams after four of eight rounds, while Leipzig stands at 32nd. To advance to the knockout stages in January, only the top 24 teams will qualify.
This win also marked a milestone for Pep Lijnders, who has been a long-time assistant to Klopp at Liverpool. This match was his first Champions League victory as a head coach. Lijnders has been with Klopp throughout a highly successful nine-year tenure at Liverpool, which included clinching the Champions League title in 2019. Starting in January, Klopp will assume a strategic role across the global Red Bull soccer network that includes teams like the New York Red Bulls.
The 57-year-old Klopp is set to face a challenge regarding his association with RB Leipzig, a club that came under the Red Bull umbrella in 2009. His affiliation has drawn criticism from some fans of the clubs he managed in Germany, such as Mainz and Borussia Dortmund, who perceive Leipzig as emblematic of a corporate approach to soccer success that prioritizes financial power over traditional club values.