A wild European Cup evening in Cyprus: after a see-saw battle, our Red Bulls drew 3-3 with Pafos, securing their place in the UEFA Europa League play-offs. We've summarised four key points from the match.
It was every bit as tough as predicted. Pafos had already demonstrated their formidable home strength against Hajduk Split, overturning the first-leg result. Against us, the Cypriots, spurred on by a boisterous crowd in the sweltering heat, were poised to put on a spectacular performance. The fact that the port city team is a force to be reckoned with in front of their own fans was already evident last season: in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League group stage, they earned seven of their nine points at home. It's all the more impressive, then, that our lads managed to defy this cauldron of noise after falling 0-2 down.
Haris Tabakovic is doing exactly what he was signed to do. While his build-up play isn't always glamorous, the striker knows precisely where the opponent's goal is. In only his fourth game for Red Bull, he scored his first hat-trick for us – and a perfect one at that! Such accuracy cannot be taken for granted, even for an experienced goalscorer: for the 32-year-old, it was the seventh time in his professional career that he had scored three or more goals in a single match
Although he didn't appear on the scoresheet, Damir Redzic played a crucial role in our comeback in the second half. The Hungarian initiated our first and third goals with strong dribbling, delivering the ball dangerously into the box. While he wasn't credited with an ****** ist, his contributions to the team were in no way less valuable.
Late winners in the first leg and in the home league opener against TSV Hartberg – and now another strong comeback after falling behind. Our team is already demonstrating remarkable resilience at this early stage of the season.
#home #team
It was every bit as tough as predicted. Pafos had already demonstrated their formidable home strength against Hajduk Split, overturning the first-leg result. Against us, the Cypriots, spurred on by a boisterous crowd in the sweltering heat, were poised to put on a spectacular performance. The fact that the port city team is a force to be reckoned with in front of their own fans was already evident last season: in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League group stage, they earned seven of their nine points at home. It's all the more impressive, then, that our lads managed to defy this cauldron of noise after falling 0-2 down.
Haris Tabakovic is doing exactly what he was signed to do. While his build-up play isn't always glamorous, the striker knows precisely where the opponent's goal is. In only his fourth game for Red Bull, he scored his first hat-trick for us – and a perfect one at that! Such accuracy cannot be taken for granted, even for an experienced goalscorer: for the 32-year-old, it was the seventh time in his professional career that he had scored three or more goals in a single match
Although he didn't appear on the scoresheet, Damir Redzic played a crucial role in our comeback in the second half. The Hungarian initiated our first and third goals with strong dribbling, delivering the ball dangerously into the box. While he wasn't credited with an ****** ist, his contributions to the team were in no way less valuable.
Late winners in the first leg and in the home league opener against TSV Hartberg – and now another strong comeback after falling behind. Our team is already demonstrating remarkable resilience at this early stage of the season.
#home #team
3 days ago
