big progress, the Rangnick paw, the absence of Alaba… What you need to know about the Blues’ first opponent at Euro 2024

The Blues will have to be wary of the Austrian selection, which has more than one argument to make on Monday.

“We’re all looking forward to starting the competition. It’s a bit of a long wait, it’s true.” Benjamin Pavard and the Blues will finally be able to start their Euro, Monday June 17. A match awaits them in Düsseldorf (Germany) against Austria. An opponent they partly know thanks to a double confrontation in the Nations League two years ago (1-1 in Austria then 2-0 victory in France). But be careful, this team has shown great progress since then and is not the type to play with the brakes.

A master tactician leading the team

“He trained me, he was even the one who brought me to Germany.” The Blues defender, Dayot Upamecano, knows Ralf Rangnick very well, the coach who will be on the Austrian bench on Monday. The one we call “the professor” has carved out quite a reputation among coaches in Europe. A member of the “Swabian clan”, a collective of gaming thinkers who revolutionized the tactical approach to football in Germany, he is credited with authoring the gegenpressingsignificant pressure exerted high on the pitch, just after losing the ball.

Since arriving in the spring of 2022, he has focused on intensity. “They are a very solid team, who like to press. They start matches very, very strong”observed Marcus Thuram, teammate of Marko Arnautovic at Inter Milan. “For me, a football team is like an orchestra: if you have a concert on Saturday evening, you must have played with the same rhythm and the same intensity as on stage during the week.”Rangnick justified himself in a long interview with So Foot in March 2020.

To implement his principles, he can count on the volume of play of his midfielders Konrad Laimer (Bayern Munich) and Marcel Sabitzer (Borussia Dortmund), starters within the best clubs in the Bundesliga.

What if it was the surprise of the Euro?

Faced with the presence of France and the Netherlands, Austria is obviously not considered one of the favorite teams in Group D. Furthermore, it is only participating in the fourth Euro in its history, a competition in which she never did better than a round of 16, but it was during the last edition in 2021. “Das Team” then looked Italy, future champion, in the eyes, only bowing at the end of extra time (1-2).

She accumulated a little more confidence the following year by holding the Blues to a draw in Vienna in the Nations League (1-1). “It’s true that we took a hit there”, recalled Theo Hernandez on Saturday. In 2024, Rangnick’s player dynamics are excellent. They remain on seven matches without defeat (and even just one defeat in the last 14 outings) with victories against Germany (2-0), Turkey (6-1) and Serbia (2-1), as well of teams participating in the Euro.

“It’s a surprising team”, had synthetically analyzed Didier Deschamps before flying to Germany. Since then, he has forced his players to watch Austria’s matches every lunch break, aware of the importance of not taking this opponent lightly.

The team’s best-known player will not play

It is without their captain David Alaba that the Austrians will fight on the field during Euro 2024. Victim of a ruptured cruciate knee ligament in December, the Real Madrid defender lost his race against the clock to return on time. The 31-year-old, who shone at Bayern Munich from the age of 17 to 28, is more than a group leader, and Ralf Rangnick’s staff understands this well. This is why he will still be present on the sidelines in a sort of assistant role throughout the competition.

“It was his great wish to be with us despite everything, explained Ralf Rangnick. David behaves as he always has, with team spirit. When players are replaced or before some come on, he comes to talk to them (…). I’m so convinced of David as a captain and as a man that I don’t need to watch what he does.”