Bundesliga: Salzburg pulls out the next prank
“We need a top performance if we want to take the three points,” warned Salzburg coach Matthias Jaissle. The German knows what he’s talking about, after all the “bulls” were on the verge of defeat in the cup. “We just felt how difficult it can be to play there. The boys fought brilliantly in the cup and overcame resistance, so a big compliment for that. But in some cases we were not able to implement what we had planned. That we can do better on Sunday,” explained Jaissle.
Nine laps before the end, his team has eleven points on the first pursuer Austria. Nevertheless, you have to remain highly concentrated, warned Oumar Solet. “Even though we have a solid lead in the table, we mustn’t let up and therefore absolutely want to win,” emphasized the central defender.
Master Group, 24th round
Sunday
Start 2.30 p.m.:
WAC-Salzburg
Wolfsberg, Lavanttal Arena, SR Kijas
Possible lineups:
WAC: Kofler – Novak, Baumgartner, Dedic, Scherzer – Peretz, Leitgeb, Liendl, Taferner – Röcher, Vizinger
Salzburg: Köhn – Kristensen, Solet, Wöber, Ulmer – Sucic, N. Seiwald, Aaronson, Capaldo – Adamu, Okafor
WAC ticked off a bitter cup-off
Salzburg have won their last four competition games in Wolfsberg and have only lost two of their last 27 matches against the Carinthians in the league. On the other hand, WAC has recently been very strong at home – coach Robin Dutt’s team has won their last six Bundesliga home games.
According to Dutt, the bitter cup end against the series champion is no longer an issue. “We have to get this over with quickly, it’s over. It’s also less about revenge on Sunday, it’s just about needing points,” said the German. Dutt is optimistic that WAC was able to stand up to Salzburg on Wednesday. “You saw that if you’re well prepared, you can catch an opponent off guard,” said Dutt.
Sturm and Klagenfurt want to write
Sturm Graz (0:1 in Salzburg) and Austria Klagenfurt (1:3 against Rapid) started with defeats in the championship group and now want to write for the first time. Storm coach Christian Ilzer calls for more efficiency and consistency. “Klagenfurt has a completely different style of play than Salzburg. They are the surprise team of the year and rightly so in the champions group. They are in a situation where they can play freely.”
Third-placed Grazer won both season duels with Klagenfurt – and definitely want to go into the international break with a win. Jakob Jantscher is again questionable with back problems, and Amadou Dante and Ivan Ljubic are also “tweaked” there.
“Perhaps that’s the toll we have to take on the space available,” Ilzer speculated. If at all possible, he will muster his top players. “Now you can’t show any signs of weakness in order to be at the front of the pack.”
Klagenfurt residents do not come as tourists
Only a late equalization by Sturm in Ried brought Klagenfurt into the master group in the last impression. But the Carinthians don’t want to bring gifts. “We’re not going to Graz as tourists on Sunday to cheer on the storm, we’re going there to get something,” said left-back Till Schumacher, whose contract has been extended by two years. “Who beat Red Bull Salzburg? Only we! We have nine games ahead of us in which we have nothing to lose, in which we are not afraid of anything,” captain Kosmas Gkezos said on the club’s website.
Master Group, 24th round
Sunday
Start 2.30 p.m.:
Storm – Klagenfurt
Graz, Merkur Arena, SR Gishamer
Possible lineups:
Storm: Siebenhandl – Gazibegovic, Affengruber, Wüthrich, Dante – Hierländer, Gorenc-Stankovic, Niangbo, Prass – Sarkaria, Höjlund
Klagenfurt: Menzel – Gkezos, Mahrer, Saravanja, Schumacher – Cvetko – Timossi Andersson, Greil, Rep, Jaritz – Pink
No fear, but Peter Pacult showed great respect. In comparison to Rapid, Sturm come “once again with a different force and playful quality”, stated Klagenfurt’s coach. “We have to be willing to work very hard, accept the duels, run a lot, defend consistently and with concentration. “Pacult has to change his starting eleven at least in two positions.
With Turgay Gemicibasi (midfield) and Nicolas Wimmer (defense) two suspended key players are missing. The duo was also missing in the 0:3 against Sturm in the last autumn round. In Graz, Austria from Klagenfurt have yet to win four draws and nine defeats in the Bundesliga.
Ten goals give LASK hope
After leaving the Conference League, LASK is only concentrating on the Bundesliga. The half-dozen goals at the start of the qualifying group against Tyrol are to be followed by more goals in East Styria. With a win at TSV Hartberg on Sunday (2.30 p.m.), Linz could underpin their status as the best team in the bottom half of the table. After the matte draw in Altach, the Hartbergers are hoping for their first win under neo-coach Klaus Schmidt.
The 4: 3 against Slavia Prague should be at least a conciliatory farewell to the European Cup for LASK. Overall, the Czech champions were a size too big. The fact that the goal tally of the last two games after the six goals against WSG Tirol is now in double digits was at least balm for old wounds.
Qualifying Group, Round 24
Sunday
Start 2.30 p.m.:
Hartberg-LASK
Hartberg, Profilt Arena, SR Weinberger
Possible lineups:
Hartberg: Swete – Farkas, Sonnleitner, Gollner, Klem – Kainz, Horvat, Diarra – Niemann, Sturm – Tadic
LASK: Schlager – Potzmann, Boller, Wiesinger, Renner – Holland, Michorl – Goiginger, Horvath, Balic – Raguz
“We’ve scored ten goals in the last two games. It was a big topic and a lot of work to work in this area. You could see that we can score goals,” commented coach Andreas Wieland. His team only managed 28 goals in the 22 rounds of the regular season. Left-back Rene Renner said after the final whistle in St. Pölten: “We weren’t among the best in the league when it came to scoring goals. Ten goals are good.”
Hartberg will resist
Schmidt spoke of a “gate machine” that LASK had started. “But we will fight back. The most important thing will be to curb their offensive abilities,” said the Styrian. Hartberg himself wants to celebrate again. It’s already 387 minutes since Dario Tadic and Co. are waiting for a league goal. According to Schmidt, LASK will not only be opposed defensively. “We’re already trying to get through our game and create a sense of achievement for our offensive players.” Donis Avdijaj is out of their squad because of a yellow card suspension, Jürgen Heil is questionable because of a muscle stiffness.
The last home appearance against LASK was a pleasant one for Hartberg. Under Kurt Russ, the blue and whites won 2-1 at the end of November. Before that there was a 1:1 in Pasching. Wieland only reluctantly remembers the games. “We showed a below-average performance twice, especially in Hartberg, but also at home,” emphasized the LASK coach. “It’s also about accepting this fight to pick up where we left off on Sunday.”