Twente vs RB Salzburg

RB Salzburg head to Grolsch Veste to encounter Twente in the return leg of their Champions League third-round qualifying tie, boasting a slender aggregate lead.

Twente seemed on the brink of catastrophe in the first leg when Michel Vlap scored in second-half stoppages to cut Salzburg’s aggregate lead in half. A 2-1 deficit is well within Twente’s reach as they still search for match fitness. After losing their first competitive outing of 2024/25 in Austria, Joseph Oosting’s side got their new Eredivisie campaign with a 2-1 victory at NEC over the weekend, bolstering their spirits ahead of this decisive fixture. Twente can draw further confidence from closing last season on a six-game winning streak on home turf, although their recent home record in the Champions League looks bleak. Indeed, the Dutch giants have picked up just one win across their last seven Champions League home matches (D5, L1). It’s worth noting they’ve not appeared in Europe’s most prestigious club competition since 2011.

Meanwhile, visiting Salzburg seem determined to avenge losing their perennial stranglehold on the Austrian Bundesliga to Sturm Graz last season, commencing the new campaign in a ‘beast’ mode. The visitors have won all four matches across all competitions this term by a combined scoreline of 16-2, including a thumping 5-1 league victory against BW Linz at the weekend. Despite losing star defender Strahinja Pavlovic to AC Milan earlier in August, Salzburg’s rock-solid defense has only capitulated twice in four games this season. That increases the likelihood of reaching the Champions League main draw for the sixth consecutive season. However, there’s no room for complacency, considering the Austrians have only won once in their last ten Champions League away games (D4, L5).