Schmidt aggrieved at Salzburg capitulation

FC Salzburg coach Roger Schmidt described his side's 1-0 loss at F91 Dudelange as "certainly not acceptable" as the Luxembourger champions sprung a surprise in the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round first leg.

A long-range effort from Aurélien Joachim in the 75th minute separated the sides with Salzburg – UEFA Europa League group stage contenders for the last three seasons – under pressure as the tie concludes in Austria next Tuesday. "Today was not a good day for us," said Schmidt, a summer arrival from German side SC Paderborn. "Congratulations to Dudelange. They deserved to win. I was really surprised by my team. I have never seen them play this poorly and it is certainly not acceptable."

The Austrian champions had bossed the early stages of the game, but the tide started to turn midway through the first half, and Joachim – the competition's joint top scorer so far with five goals – eventually profited from a mistake by Salzburg midfielder Rasmus Lindgren to register. "We never found our rhythm and it just kept getting worse," said Schmidt. "Our decision-making was poor. We made basic mistakes and we couldn't raise our game after we went behind. The return leg will be anything but plain sailing for us."

Salzburg had travelled to Luxembourg without the injured Jakob Jantscher and had to replace winger Dušan Švento after just six minutes at the Stade Jos Nusbaum. "We are concerned that he may have torn a cruciate ligament," said the 45-year-old Salzburg coach.