The starting position
Salzburg versus Asiago is the duel between the second and twelfth-placed teams in the table. As of yesterday, the Red Bulls are back in second place, level on points with Linz at the top of the table. The home win against Ljubljana gave the Red Bulls renewed confidence after two previous defeats, but they also know that this was just the beginning on their way back to their usual strong performance. Asiago is a good yardstick, because according to the statistics on paper, Salzburg should win in Asiago, but like many other teams, they have always struggled there in the Italian mountains.
Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey suffered a 10-2 defeat in Hungary a week ago, but won in Vienna before that and also beat the KAC 2-1 in overtime at home. The Italians were also only beaten in overtime in Innsbruck. This team can play ice hockey and will try to redeem themselves against the Red Bulls for the last defeat in Hungary in front of their home fans and will be determined to do so.
The opponent
Asiago is made up of two thirds Italians and one third North Americans. American Hall of Famer Tom Barrasso, an extremely experienced head coach, has been in charge for the past two years, gradually building up the team and picking out small details for each game. In this way, he takes the hectic pace out of the team, but is able to motivate the players excellently and push them to their maximum performance.
Salzburg's 4:2 home win in mid-October had to be hard-earned, with the Red Bulls only securing the three-pointer in the final third. In their second meeting of the season, Salzburg will once again face an Italian defensive fortress and an American-style attack - William Rapuzzi and Matteo Gennaro with 7 goals each and Michele Marchetti with 6 goals are particularly worth keeping an eye on.
Peter Schneider is the absolute spearhead of the reigning champions with 13 goals. With 5 goals each from Thomas Raffl, Troy Bourke, Chay Genoway and Mario Huber, the Red Bulls' other top scorers are spread across several lines.