Bayern Munich left back, David Alaba has spoken about the difficulty he expects when the reigning European champions take on Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.
Bayern have amassed maximum points from their opening two games in Group A following wins against Atletico Madrid and Locomotiv Moscow.
Salzburg have amassed a solitary point from their opening two games In the group but Austrian international, Alaba expects a stern tests from the Austrian club on Tuesday night at the Red Bull Arena.
“The development of RB Salzburg is extremely positive,” Alaba said at the pre-match press conference.
“I’ve been watching them for the past few years. It’s a team that plays very, very good and successful football.
“We have to be highly concentrated in order to be successful against them.”
“Salzburg is a team that tries to play very quick football,” he added.
“They are very aggressive against the ball and put a lot of pressure. They play very modern and attractive football”
Alaba then discussed the recent comments credited to Bayern Munich President, Herbert Hainer over the knotty situation regarding the Austrian international’s future in Bavaria.
Hainer revealed on Sunday that the German champions have withdrawn their contract offer for Alaba, whose current deal expires next year.
“A new situation has arisen over the weekend. We made David and his agent a very, very good offer some time ago, we negotiated for months and we find the offer very fair and competitive – especially in today’s world,” Hainer told BR.
“We told David’s representatives at the last meeting that we wanted to have clarity by the end of October and an answer, because for such an important position and personnel we want to have planning security.
“We heard nothing until yesterday. Our sporting director, Hasan Salihamidzic, asked the agent again actively, and the answer was that the offer is still unsatisfying and that we should think about it again. As a result, we decided to take the offer completely off the table. That means there is no longer an offer.”
According to ‘Sport Bild’, the Bavarians offered a five-year contract worth up to 16 million euros per year.
The 28-year-old Alaba who has been linked with Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Manchester City and Juventus said no one at the club had communicated to him officially regarding the situation.
“I found out about it from the news yesterday evening. It was a special situation. We’ll see how things will go. I haven’t been able to think about that yet”
“I’m a player who really enjoys playing for FC Bayern. I feel very comfortable and happy to be part of this team. After yesterday evening, I can’t say how things will look in the future. Nobody has spoken to me officially”
He concluded by discussing the negative reaction from the fans based on the current situation.
“I understand the reactions of the fans. However, I also have a different point of view,” he said.
“We had three games in the last seven days. I haven’t thought about how things will go on now. Bayern has always been my first point of contact. I had no contact with other clubs.”
“I would’ve liked internal stuff to stay internal. If I’m portrayed like this – which is not true – I can understand the fans’ reactions. The figures that have been mentioned are simply not the truth. I was disappointed and hurt that they were not denied by the officials.”
