Football: Different Conditions for Rapid and Austria

Sunday in the football Bundesliga offers champions Sturm Graz, vice-champions Salzburg, and Rapid the chance to make amends for the clear "zero" on the international stage. Particularly Sturm, who hosts WAC (2:30 PM), and Salzburg, who visit Vienna Austria (5:00 PM), face tough tasks. Rapid must conclude the first half of the regular season on National Day against promoted SV Ried (2:30 PM).

Ried Hosts Rapid

After five consecutive competitive defeats, Rapid is fighting for a turnaround in Innviertel. However, a very unpleasant opponent awaits - Ried has won their last two matches, most recently a 2-1 away victory against WAC. "They are doing very well, have changed little in their system since promotion, and have gained a bit in quality," explained coach Peter Stöger, who is plagued by personnel concerns. "We will field a team that will have a highly intense match."

For the Upper Austrians, the anticipation for the home duel with Rapid is high, especially due to the statistics, having won 18 out of 43 home games against the Green-Whites. "The victory against WAC showed that we can grow with big tasks. We take this success experience with us without losing our footing," promised coach Maximilian Senft, who also commented on the current crisis of the opponent. "Rapid has not always shown the consistency in recent weeks as at the beginning of the season, yet we are talking about a team filled with some of the best players in the Bundesliga. We will only be successful if we act as a unit."

Sturm Faces WAC

The champion and league leader against the fourth-placed team: The duel in the Merkur Arena promises a lot of excitement. And it gives the new WAC coach Peter Pacult the opportunity to score for the first time with the Wolves in his second game. In his debut, after five games without a defeat, they suffered a last-minute 1:2 loss against Ried in front of their home crowd. "We need to get back on track," demanded the Viennese from his team, which disappointed in all aspects against the promoted team after a good start. At least they remain unbeaten in the league away from home for nine games across seasons. "We are expecting a tough game, but we can handle it," said former Sturm player Donis Avdijaj optimistically.

Sturm awaits the Carinthians in the Pack-Derby with four consecutive victories under their belt. As seen in the recent 4:3 victory at Blau-Weiß Linz, the performances were not always entirely convincing, but in crucial moments, the Blackys always presented themselves as ice-cold. This should not change after the 1:2 at Celtic Glasgow in the Europa League. The performance in Scotland did not leave coach Jürgen Säumel pessimistic - on the contrary. The 41-year-old noted a courageous performance from his team: "We can take away many positive insights."

Austria must face Salzburg

Salzburg squandered the fruits of their 1:0 lead against Ferencvaros with hair-raising defensive blunders, losing 2:3 and dragging themselves through the season. At least they are still in second place in the league, although that is certainly in danger. It could go to Austria in the event of a defeat at the distribution circle. The gap to Sturm could already be six points by Sunday evening, and that with one game less. "The Ferencvaros match is still in our bones, physically and also mentally," admitted coach Thomas Letsch, whose work is likely being scrutinized more critically. "Now we have to score in Vienna-Favoriten, which ideally means we get three points."

For Salzburg, Austria is a kind of favorite opponent. Since Red Bull took the reins, Violett has only won 10 times in 77 games (46 defeats, 21 draws), the last time being on May 27, 2018, in the substitute stadium in Wr. Neustadt under the then Austria coach Letsch. "It sounds incredible, but it was always brutally difficult," said Helm about seven winless years. That is still the case, but they have been able to close the gap. It is important to use the series psychologically. It is quite possible that this is "a bit of extra motivation. Everyone wants to be the first to crack this code." With five wins in the last six games, there is a lot in favor of his team.

(APA/Red)

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