Curtain up for the champion group of the Bundesliga. After the basic round, it is now the turn of the best six teams. Yesterday, Saturday, Admira was able to win 2-0 against SV Ried in the qualifying group. In the end, Altach and Hartberg drew 0-0. This Sunday, Rapid is making a guest appearance at Austria Klagenfurt. The two teams only faced each other seven days ago. The Hütteldorfer won this duel clearly with 3:0. Now it’s time to meet again in the Wörthersee Stadium. “We think very clearly in European terms. That is our goal, but not a sure-fire success,” said RapidCoach Ferdinand Feldhofer.
“We can attack, we don’t have the pressure that we had in the last few weeks,” stressed Feldhofer, whose team is only three points behind second place (Sturm and WAC) after the point was shared. The third runner-up title in a row behind the untouchable Salzburg is within reach before the last ten rounds. According to Feldhofer, they don’t want to be fooled by the last win against Klagenfurt. “We played a good game, but that was close.” Especially in Klagenfurt “all teams will have a hard time”, predicted the Styrian.
The promoted team from Klagenfurt is the sensation of the Bundesliga season. The Carinthians made it into the master group in their first season in the top division. “Of course we’re happy that we’re in the top six, but we have to be smart about it now,” emphasized Pacult, who pointed out that only 7 out of a total of 30 points in the regular season against the top six teams. “You have to consider that there is a different quality, but also a different experience. With us it’s a new experience for many players.”
The master group also brings a quick reunion for Austria and WAC. Two weeks after Vienna’s dramatic 1-0 home win due to Georg Teigl’s injury, the two teams will meet again today, Sunday (2:30 p.m.) in the Generali Arena. Austria wants to confirm the impressive form. The Wolfsbergers do not want to show any weaknesses before the difficult tasks ahead.
The Lavantallers are in full fight for the runner-up title. After sharing the points, the Dutt-Elf is tied with Sturm Graz in third place. In the ÖFB Cup, too, a lot is expected in the semifinals. Before the game against the violets, WAC coach Robin Dutt spoke of a “duel at eye level.” 1:0 he won WAC in the fall at home, the last one won Austria also thanks to two missed penalties by Michael Liendl. Dutt looked ahead to a total of contested games in the master group. “You shouldn’t make any mistakes there,” said the German. “All teams except LASK are there that we expected above. We wanted to have a good starting position, and that’s what we worked for.”
There is currently a spirit of optimism at Austria. Before the season, only the most optimistic would have believed that the Violets were fourth in the championship at this point. With a win you could even overtake the WAC.
There is currently a spirit of optimism at Austria. Before the season, only the most optimistic would have believed that the Violets were fourth in the championship at this point. With a win you could even overtake the WAC.
Five days after the clear defeat in the Champions League against Bayern, Red Bull Salzburg’s focus is back on the Bundesliga. In view of the 1:7 in Munich, the “Bullen” make a clear statement that with a win you could already be twelve points ahead of the Styrians. “We have to get back on track as soon as possible and tick off the Bayern game,” demanded coach Matthias Jaissle.
In any case, the goals haven’t changed after the bitter 1:7 in Munich: “For us it’s clear that we want to win the cup and championship. We played a great Champions League season, the boys can be proud of it and can crown the season with the titles in the cup and championship,” said Jaissle, who with the recently injured Noah Okafor was again one of the two forwards alongside Karim Adeyemi Available. From Matthias Jaissle’s point of view, you have to focus on 3-year-olds in particular storm Watch out for Danish winter signing Rasmus Höjlund: ” “Höjlund has integrated very well, brings quality, is physically strong and has power. So we have to try to do our best defensively,” said Jaissle.
Christian Ilzer suspects that Salzburg will be after 1: 7 on “rehabilitation”. In any case, one thing is clear for the Sturm coach: “We have to be there from the first second. We have to go into the game with the appropriate confidence in our own strengths and also develop the right strategies. With the quality and dominance of Salzburg you will be punished immediately. They love back spaces, we can’t give them that under any circumstances, and we have to put pressure on the ball.”
In addition, LASK meets WSG Tirol in the only game in the qualifying group this Sunday. For LASK it is important to focus fully on day-to-day business again after the 1: 4 against Slavia Prague in the Conference League. The WSG would like to gain some air in the fight against relegation compared to Altach.
