Liverpool host RB Salzburg in a Champions League tie at Anfield tonight. The game is pivotal to both team’s hope in the competition this season.
On top of that, this game is also a battle between the good and bad in modern day football.
The Reds are steeped in history and have reached the pinnacle of the sport through organic growth. In contrast, RB Salzburg have sold their soul for success in a new age of football which seems to value profit over everything else.
(Photo by Marc Atkins/Offside/Getty Images)
Liverpool are a club with a rich history dating all the way back to 1892; based in a working-class city that has been a breeding ground for elite level footballers for a century.
Football is life to many people in Liverpool and that passion shines through, earning Reds fans a unique reputation.
The Kopites continue to fight against the modern evils in the sport. Most recently they protested against the usually popular owners FSG who stepped over their mark by trying to trademark the word Liverpool.
(Photo by Andreas Schaad/Bongarts/Getty Images)
In contrast Red Bull Salzburg are the worst example of the commercialization in the sport. The drinks giant Red Bull purchased the club in 2005 renamed, re-branded and stripped away 72 years of history of the formerly named SV Salzburg.
RB Salzburg are patient zero of the company’s entry into football. They have since gone on to acquire teams in the USA, Brazil and Germany.
Despite ushering in a new era of success at the clubs, they have faced backlash for excessive commercialization and rightly so.