Bundesliga: Klagenfurt sees another chance against Salzburg
According to Pacult, Salzburg is “the best that Austrian football has to offer”, but the Klagenfurt team is still aiming for a single point win in the race for the European Cup starting places in the championship group. Against the superior leader of the table, it’s about “being very diligent,” said Pacult: “We’ll have to run a lot and accept the duels in order to be able to counter the playful power. The more we succeed in disrupting their rhythm, the greater our chance.”
While Salzburg want to take the next step towards their ninth championship title in a row at the Wörthersee Stadium, there is a lot at stake for the Pacult team with seven rounds to go before the end of the season. Because Austria from Carinthia, sixth in the table with 16, will definitely keep up with WAC (18) and Rapid (19), and thus not lose sight of the small dream of Europe. But for that you need a “miracle”.
Master Group, 26th round
Sunday, 2.30 p.m.:
Austria Klagenfurt – Salzburg
Klagenfurt, Wörthersee Stadium, SR Lechner
Possible lineups:
Klagenfurt: Menzel – Blauensteiner, Gkezos, Saravanja, Schumacher – Cvetko – Maciejewski, Gemicibasi, Greil, Jaritz – Pink
Salzburg: Köhn – Kristensen, Solet, Wöber, Ulmer – N. Seiwald, Camara, Capaldo – Sucic – Adamu, Okafor
Surprise victory gives self-confidence
Midfielder Turgay Gemicibasi, who, like top scorer Markus Pink, won the surprise victory in November traffic, is definitely motivated. “This win gave us an incredible amount of self-confidence because it showed us that on a good day we can keep up with any opponent,” said the 25-year-old. He claims to be able to “repeat the miracle once more”.
Salzburg have something against it, who for their part want to continue the flawless start in the championship group with the fourth win in a row. The advantage over the closest pursuer, Sturm Graz, is a comfortable twelve points, another fall in Klagenfurt is unlikely. “We definitely want to do better this time,” said coach Matthias Jaissle, and goalscorer Junior Adamu announced: “We want to take revenge for that.”
Pacult is plagued by minor personnel worries. In addition to defender Thorsten Mahrer, who was missing in the 1-1 draw against Wiener Austria, central defender Nicolas Wimmer is also injured. Brenden Aaronson is doubtful for Salzburg, who want to continue the momentum from the late 2-1 win against Rapid.
Rapid received a weakened WAC
After the disappointment in Salzburg, Rapid will write again in the home game against WAC. Suspensions, findings and CoV failures clouded the mood of coach Ferdinand Feldhofer before the match. “We’re a long way from a cluster,” emphasized Feldhofer, but overall the personnel situation was “far from relaxed.” For the first time this season, offensive engine Marco Grüll is missing.
Rapid did not want to reveal who had to pass because of a coronavirus infection on Friday – also for tactical reasons. “It’s more than one,” said Feldhofer only. Since players from the second team are also affected by the different conditional absences or players who commute between the two teams, the coach admitted: “We find it difficult to currently have two 18 people in the squad.” Two missions within three days the coach could not rule out players who played in the 2nd division at GAK on Friday.
Master Group, 26th round
Sunday, 2.30 p.m.:
Fast – WAC
Vienna, Allianz Stadium, SR Altmann
Possible lineups:
Fast: N. Hedl – Stojkovic, Aiwu, K. Wimmer, Moormann – Schick, Ljubicic, Knasmüllner, Petrovic – Zimmermann, Druijf
WAC: Kofler – Novak, Baumgartner, Lochoshvili, Dedic – Wernitznig, Leitgeb, Sprangler, Taferner – Liendl – Vizinger
Roar lock challenge
Yusuf Demir and Filip Stojkovic are fit and will be in the squad for Sunday. For Kelvin Arase, on the other hand, it will not work out, Philipp Schobesberger is suffering from muscle problems. The suspension of Grüll, who has been in every competitive game since the summer and was usually one of the best in the green and white jersey, weighs particularly heavily.
“We’re going to have to improvise a bit. We will also have to do something new tactically because we simply don’t have the players available to carry out our plan,” said Feldhofer, but sent ahead: “We will still have enough players available and enough quality players who can do it We can also defeat WAC.” The coach was recently satisfied with the mentality and tactical aspects of the 2-1 draw in Salzburg, where the decisive goal only came in the 94th minute.
Feldhofer knows WAC “inside out”
The next opponent WAC is offensively very flexible and variable. “They have a well-rehearsed team. For the most part, that’s the squad I was allowed to put together. Of course, I know the team inside and out,” said Feldhofer, who was the Wolfsberger coach from winter 2019 to March 2021.
The farewell does not expire voluntarily at the time. The former central defender was rumored to have had a troubled relationship with captain Michael Liendl. Now it comes to the first reunion with the club. “I am looking forward to meeting many familiar faces again. I had a very nice time in Wolfsberg, a very successful time. There were magical moments. I think we can all look each other in the eye, but we don’t have to be best friends now,” Feldhofer said.
Dutt with no options on offense
The WAC recently suffered three defeats in a row in the league and failed in the ÖFB Cup semifinals on penalties at Salzburg. “It’s not about the number of chances. But due to the many changes in personnel, the processes are not so clear that we can exert more pressure,” explained coach Robin Dutt, who has to do without Eliel Peretz (muscle problems), Thorsten Röcher (illness) and Tai Baribo in Vienna. A wound on the Achilles tendon was sewn up in Baribo, and according to Dutt, the Israeli will fall in another 14 days. “We will practically only have defensive on the bench.”
In view of the situation, the German referred to his many years of experience, especially with such difficult situations. “It’s the way in football that sometimes you have more injuries, sometimes fewer. You have to deal with that, I don’t want to talk about it so much.” In such phases, trust in the team and in the existing quality is important. They have proven that the Lavanttaler can win against Rapid: Of the last three duels, two went to the WAC. Most recently there was a 4-1 home win on November 7, 2021.