Bundesliga: Salzburg still has records on its agenda
“The goals remain the same and the standards remain the same. Of course we want to win again here in front of our own crowd on Sunday,” said Salzburg coach Matthias Jaissle and brushed aside any thoughts of a possible slouch. Especially since Salzburg could equal the Bundesliga win record of Wiener Austria (26) from the 1985/86 season with three three-pointers – with four fewer games played. In this case, the “Bulls” would also break the record (52) points since the Bundesliga reform four years ago.
The records are not a direct goal, but rather “a nice side note,” said Jaissle, who can once again trust in Sekou Koita. The Malian striker returned to team training last summer after tearing his cruciate ligament, but still needs a little time to reach his full potential. Before the game on Sunday, the Wings for Life World Run starts, the series champion will spend 100 euros per kilometer run by his players to the Wings for Life Foundation.
Bundesliga, 30th round
Sunday, 2.30 p.m.:
Salzburg-WAC
Red Bull Arena, SR Pfister
Possible lineups:
Salzburg: Mantl – Kristensen, Solet, Piatkowski, Ulmer – Junuzovic, Kjaergaard, Seiwald – Sucic – Adeyemi, Sesko
WAC: Kofler – Jasic, Baumgartner, Lochoshvili, Dedic – Peretz, Leitgeb, Taferner – Liendl – Röcher, Baribo
In any case, Jaissle has been warned about the WAC. The Carinthians are “an unpleasant opponent”, explained the 34-year-old German, who wants to find a “good mix” of rotation and seasoned regulars. Luka Sucic, who scored the opening goal in the cup final against Ried (3-0) last Sunday, is expecting “a really disgusting game with a lot of duels”. In the semi-finals of the cup in March, the Jaissle team only prevailed on penalties.
WAC fully in the European Cup race
In any case, the guests from Carinthia have a point in mind for the guest appearance in Wals-Siezenheim, because the Wolfsbergers are still in the race for a starting place in the European Cup with three laps to go. WAC is currently in fifth place in the Bundesliga, tied on points behind Austria Wien, two points behind Rapid and two points ahead of Austria Klagenfurt. After five defeats at the beginning of the championship round, Robin Dutt’s team recovered with four points from two teams.
However, Dutt doesn’t see it as a bonus that Salzburg and Sturm Graz will have little more to count in the coming week. “I can’t derive any advantage from that. That would imply that Salzburg and Sturm would give less,” said the WAC coach, who wants to book as many points as possible against “every opponent, no matter who” in the remaining rounds – ideally the maximum yield of nine pillars.
Klagenfurt will “stick with it”
With a surprise in Salzburg, Wolfsberg would also keep their local rivals from Klagenfurt at bay, who have runners-up Sturm at the Wörthersee Stadium on Sunday. The Carinthians are in sixth and last place in the master group, but are only two points behind fourth place, which entitles them to participate in the European Cup. Even third place is not completely out of reach with a deficit of four points.
Bundesliga, 30th round
Sunday, 2.30 p.m.:
A. Klagenfurt – storm
Wörthersee Stadium, SR Grobelnik
Possible lineups:
Klagenfurt: Menzel – Blauensteiner, Gkezos, Saravanja, Schumacher – Timossi Andersson, Greil, Moreira, Cvetko, Jaritz – Pink
Storm: Siebenhandl – Jäger, Affengruber, Wüthrich, Dante – Hierländer, Ljubic, Niangbo, Kuen – Höjlund, Jantscher
“It is up to us if we want to achieve an international starting place. We have to score to stay there,” said coach Pacult. However, the promoted team has lost all three previous duels with Sturm this season. “But we were always able to challenge them,” said Pacult. Nevertheless, the Vienna storm looks like clear favorites. “They are having a great season and are right up there,” said the 62-year-old.
Sturmwerk no presents
In any case, there is no room for speculation in Klagenfurt with Grazer on the mend, the storm coach Christian Ilzer made it clear before the trip to Wörthersee that his goal is the sixth win in the last seven games. “We’re not playing the last three games for honor – anyone who believes that doesn’t know me and doesn’t know my team,” said the Styrian. “We have absolutely nothing to give away, we’re playing a great championship round, we’ve had a great run and we want to continue that. We still have clear goals for these three championship games.”
The satisfaction with the prematurely secured final rank was recently clouded by the death of Sturm’s century trainer Ivica Osim. “It was two completely different weeks for us, last week we were extremely happy about securing second place, which we all deservedly celebrated. Then on Sunday, on Sturm’s birthday, the sad news of the death of Ivica Osim. That was a very special experience for all of us,” explained Ilzer.
According to the storm coach, a strong opponent awaits in game one after the death of the legendary master coach. “Austria Klagenfurt is having an outstanding season. Peter Pacult does an impressive job with his team, they are very difficult to play, make the spaces extremely narrow and are always extremely dangerous in counterattacks and with set pieces,” said Ilzer.