What Röhl and Tabakovic say about the "Bulls'" EL Opponents

"I'm looking positively at the league phase, with potential for more," says Salzburg coach Danny Röhl after the Europa League draw for the "Bulls."

However, he emphasizes: "We should still play the first few games and then take it game by game."

AC Milan, Crystal Palace, Sparta Prague, and Ararat-Armenia are the home opponents for FC Salzburg. Röhl considers these particularly attractive. The same goes for Leverkusen, whom they will face away. They will also travel to RSC Anderlecht, NK Celje, and Levski Sofia.

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"A good mix of interesting challenges with varying degrees of difficulty - if you can say that in this competition," explains the German. However, the anticipation is already huge, also explains top scorer Tabakovic, who emphasizes that they are "cool games."

Familiar Opponents

He is also particularly looking forward to AC Milan: "For me, it's an incredibly big club, we can definitely be excited." The Salzburgers already have experience against the Italian club. They last faced each other in the 2022/23 Champions League season in Group E. The home match ended 1-1, but they had to admit defeat 0-4 away.

Coach Röhl is wary not only of the players but also of coach Ruben Amorim. "A big name in European football, a great tradition with a coach who has already proven in other leagues that he can do good work, and yet you mustn't diminish the other opponents either," he analyzes.

Against Leverkusen, the result in the last encounter in 2024/25 was even higher. The Germans triumphed 5-0. They also met Sparta Prague in 2024. A 0-3 defeat followed.

Nevertheless, thanks to the attractive home games, they hope for a large turnout of fans when stars like Luka Modric enter the Red Bull Arena. "These are the games we want, with big names that will hopefully also bring in the spectators," says the 37-year-old.

Three Big Names and Five 50:50 Matches

When asked about the favorite role, he doesn't want to commit. "At first glance, with Milan, Crystal Palace, and Leverkusen, you have three teams with very big names that also have a high market value. That's already an indicator of quality. Then I would view the other five teams as 50:50 matches, where you can certainly pick up good points."

Nevertheless, he is aware that small mistakes are punished at this level. Individual details could decide a duel. In the Europa League, encounters are often close. "It will be important for us to play flawlessly," says Röhl.

The specific match dates will be announced in the coming days. It remains to be seen who the "Bulls" will face first.

Match Dates:

Matchday 1: September 16/17, 2026

Matchday 2: October 15, 2026

Matchday 3: October 22, 2026

Matchday 4: November 05, 2026

Matchday 5: November 26, 2026

Matchday 6: December 10, 2026

Matchday 7: January 21, 2027

Matchday 8: January 28, 2027