Rapid Vienna against Blau-Weiß Linz for a Good Season Start

Rapid hosts Blau-Weiß Linz on Sunday to kick off the new football Bundesliga season. Last season, the Linz team proved to be an unbeatable fortress for the Green-Whites, with three defeats and a 0:0 in four matches. The responsible coach Gerald Scheiblehner is now in Switzerland, and a new era begins for Blau-Weiß under Mitja Mörec. "I think we still have three scores to settle," said Rapid goalkeeper Niklas Hedl.

Rapid unbeaten under Stöger

"I wouldn't say it's a bogey team. There's a very exciting new coach there, a very good coach has left. Here, too, there's a new coach, and there was a good coach here," said Rapid head coach Peter Stöger after the 4:2 home win over Decic Tuzi in the Conference League qualification about the situation. Rapid has won the previous three competitive matches during his tenure. However, the opponents from Montenegro and in the ÖFB Cup Innsbruck are clearly below Blau-Weiß Linz. "We have to give it our all again, we know that too."

For Blau-Weiß, which surprised under Scheiblehner (now at GC Zurich) and stormed into the championship group in the second year in the top division, the primary goal is again to stay in the league. "We face a difficult game at the start. For Rapid, it's the first home game in the league, the atmosphere will be accordingly intense. But the team has already proven last season that it can hold its own in such games," said coach Mörec, who only has to do without the injured Paul Mensah and Christopher Cvetko. "If we act as a team at our highest level on Sunday, then it's possible to take something tangible from Vienna."

Blau-Weiß Linz without European Cup burden

The Rapid players are already caught in the grind of multiple competitions. "There's nothing cooler than playing every three or four days. That's what we work for every day," said Hedl. "Those who we believe are fit enough and the best will play, nothing will change in the approach," emphasized Stöger. The match kicks off at 5:00 PM.

There is a question mark for the Viennese team regarding striker Janis Antiste, who, according to Stöger, did not suffer a serious injury against Decic Tuzi. It might not work out for the 22-year-old Frenchman by Sunday. Besides the long-term injured, other players are either injured or still in recovery training, but Serge-Philippe Raux-Yao and Mamadou Sangare, who are suspended in the European Cup, are eligible to play in the league. Furkan Dursun will no longer be available. The striker has been loaned to second division club SKN St. Pölten for this season.

(APA/Red)

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