Salzburg's strong Europa League start thanks to Tabakovic's early goal

FC Salzburg opened the Europa League group stage with an away win against Bulgarian champions Lewski Sofia. Haris Tabakovic scored in the 39th minute to make it 1-0, giving the Bulls their first match in the UEFA Europa League a victory. The goal came shortly before halftime and secured the team under new coach Danny Röhl their fourth win of the European season.

Line-up and tactical decisions

In central defence, Tim Drexler stood in for the ill Valentin Zabransky, while Sota Kitano took the lone striker role behind Tabakovic, consequently leaving Karim Konate on the bench. Lewski's Spanish coach, Julio Velazquez, opted for a legionnaire line-up with three Brazilians and two Bulgarians. The report by Aleksandar Koshed for GEPA provides the details of the match proceedings.

Statistics and significance of the win

Tabakovic, who is 32 years old, scored his tenth goal for Salzburg and his sixth goal in just five Europa Cup matches. After the strike, Salzburg's defence remained solid; Christian Zawieschitzky saved the first shot from Armstrong Oko‑Flex and later thwarted further attempts from Lewski. Salzburg remain unbeaten after 13 league matches this season, a record that places Danny Röhl ahead of Marco Rose and Jesse Marsch.

Compared with the previous season, in which all four away games in the Europa League were lost, this success marks a clear upswing. After the match, coach Röhl emphasized that the team also wants to go unbeaten in the next Europa League fixture on 15 October at 18:45 at home against AC Milan. The squad has therefore recorded its fourth win in the fifth European cup season match.