ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — The Red Bull family of soccer clubs that will soon be overseen by Jürgen Klopp finally got a first win in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Before Salzburg’s 3-1 victory at Feyenoord, it had been a combined seven straight losses in the league stage of the elite competition for the Austrian side and Bundesliga team Leipzig, which are backed by the energy drinks giant.
While Leipzig has faced most of its toughest opponents first — including a 1-0 loss at home to Champions League leader Liverpool — Salzburg had lost at home to Dinamo Zagreb and at Sparta Prague.
The first win at the eighth attempt came after Salzburg forward Karim Konaté scored twice at Feyenoord. He missed a hat trick chance by striking the crossbar with a late penalty kick.
Salzburg is now 30th in the 36-team standings after four of the eight rounds, and Leipzig is 32nd. Only the top 24 teams in January can advance to the knockout rounds.
It was a first Champions League win as a head coach for Klopp’s long-time assistant at Liverpool, Pep Lijnders.
Lijnders was at Klopp’s side for most of an acclaimed nine-year spell at Liverpool, including winning the Champions League title in 2019, and his old boss will be his new boss in January.
Klopp is joining the global network of Red Bull soccer clubs to direct overall strategy rather than have day-to-day input at teams that include New York Red Bulls.
The 57-year-old Klopp has faced a backlash from fans at the clubs he coached in Germany — Mainz and then Borussia Dortmund — for aligning with Leipzig which was rebranded in the Red Bull group in 2009. The team is seen by most German fans as part of a corporate culture buying success.
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