A clear highlight of this year's pre-season preparations is the Audi Quattro Cup in Salzburg. From 16:00 CEST on Saturday 11th July, the Green-Whites will face off against three...
A clear highlight of this year's pre-season preparations is the Audi Quattro Cup in Salzburg. From 16:00 CEST on Saturday 11th July, the Green-Whites will face off against three...
A clear highlight of this year's pre-season preparations is the Audi Quattro Cup in Salzburg. From 16:00 CEST on Saturday 11th July, the Green-Whites will face off against three top teams from across Europe. SV Werder will line up against FC Red Bull Salzburg in the first semi-final at the Red Bull Arena, whilst Southampton FC and Valencia CF will contest the second semi. After that: the third-place play-off and then the final!
WERDER.DE introduces the teams who will take on Di Santo, Fritz and co. this Saturday.
FC Red Bull Salzburg:
The club formed in 1933 has developed into probably the strongest side in the Austrian Bundesliga in the last few years. The "Red Bullets" won the double for the second year running last season, and have won six of the last nine Austrian league titles - the Salzburg side have also been a constant fixture in the Europa League in the last decade. Manager Peter Zeidler's team will make another attempt to qualify for this season's Champions League. The "Red Bullets", featuring ex-Werder player Alexander Walke, will take on the Green-Whites in the first semi-final of the tournament.

Valencia CF:
The team from the east coast of Spain - six-time Spanish champions and seven-time Copa del Rey winners - is already well known to Werder. The Green-Whites could only meet the "Blaquinegros" in the final or third-place play-off of this tournament, but both teams will always be affiliated with each other after their memorable Europa League tie in 2010 (5-5 on aggregate), as well as two Werder victories in the group stage of the 2004/05 Champions League. Coach Nuno Espirito Santo's team ended the 2014/15 campaign in fourth place of La Liga, qualifying for this season's Champions League. Like Werder, the team featuring Germany international Skhodran Mustafi will begin the new season in mid-August.
Southampton FC:
Even in the strongly-contested English Premier League, the "Saints" were able to finish the 2014/15 season in a very respectable seventh place, in a campaign that included an away win at Manchester United and knocking out Arsenal FC of the League Cup. The south-coast side conceded just 33 goals in 38 games across the campaign, which represented just one of the many club records they broke last season. The "Saints" have been in Austria since earlier this week undergoing pre-season preparations, with the English season starting a week earlier than in Germany. The side managed by Ronald Koeman - who incidentally also used to manage Valencia - will compete in the Audi Quattro Cup for the first time, taking on the Spanish team in the second semi-final.
The matches in the tournament will last just 45 minutes - if the end result is a draw, the teams will go straight to a penalty shoot-out.
