Bundesliga: Salzburg demanded in Schlager when there was a storm
“The intensive phase begins on Saturday, followed by top games and top challenges. We have to succeed in calling up our maximum potential,” warned Sturm coach Christian Ilzer. After Salzburg, the Ukrainian record champions Dynamo Kyiv are waiting for a storm in the third qualifying round of the Champions League on Wednesday. Departure to Lodz is on Tuesday.
The start of the league season was mixed with a 1-1 draw at WAC last Saturday, Ilzer described the performance as “difficult to improve”. “We didn’t manage to find footballing solutions against an opponent who was pushing high,” he explains. “On the other hand, in the last few games in Wolfsberg we rarely allowed so little on the defensive. And we’ve been writing this week to find more solutions, more offerings in our game.”
High expectations before the storm – Salzburg
SK Sturm are expecting champions Salzburg in the first home game of the Bundesliga season on Saturday. The interest of the fans and the expectations of the people of Graz are high.
Even Salzburg is not yet at 100 percent
Even after the umpteenth reorganization of the team over the summer, Salzburg quickly found their rhythm again. Be it in the Cup or in the Bundesliga, Austria was forced 3-0 last week. There was also a sense of achievement in the friendly test against Liverpool on Wednesday with a narrow 1-0 win.
Admiral Bundesliga, 2nd round
Start: 7.30 p.m
Storm Graz – Salzburg
Merkur Arena, SR Weinberger
Possible lineups:
Storm: Siebenhandl – Gazibegovic, Wüthrich, Borkovic, Schnegg – Gorenc-Stankovic – Hierländer, T. Horvat, Prass – Sarkaria, Höjlund
Salzburg: Köhn – Van der Brempt, Solet, Bernardo, Wöber – Seiwald – Sucic, Fernando, Capaldo – Okafor, Sesko
“Of course we’re very happy about the successful start against Austria, but we can also put it into context quite well. We have already done some things very well. However, we still have room for improvement in some areas, we’re not at 100 percent yet,” explained coach Matthias Jaissle.
Salzburg will take revenge
“We don’t have such good memories of our last game in Graz, we want to do it better this time,” added the German Sturm and paid tribute to the opponent: “Sturm’s development is really good. The Grazers are rightly very ambitious this season.” Striker Benjamin Sesko said: “We know that we have to be on the ground against Sturm Graz and need a top performance. Sturm was our toughest opponent last season and did really well throughout the season.”
Ilzer returned this praise at his press conference. “The team is strong again,” he said of the champion. “A clear 3-0 win against last year’s third-placed team, and yesterday they showed their enormous strength against Liverpool.” The Styrian attested Salzburg’s “incredible class” in transition and counterattacking. “The basis will be a top defense and we have to go into the game with brutal confidence in our own strengths.”