Expect heavy fighting again at Hütteldorf
©APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH
In a sold-out Allianz Stadium ahead of Sunday’s 343rd Vienna derby (5:00pm/live ORF 1, Sky), the roles seemed clearly assigned: Austria, who won their second derby in a row at home in the league at the end of the 7th round of the Bundesliga, are looking for a successful start to the “Week of Truth”. Champion and league leader Sturm Cross will host the WAC from 2:30 p.m., while Salzburg will play against WSG Troll.
After the home derby curse ended, Rapid, who are second in the table, will now play freely and want to surprise Austria. In February, the Green-Whites celebrated their first derby win at the twelfth attempt with a 3-0 win at the Allianz Stadium, which opened in 2016, after homophobic slurs from some Rapid players sparked a scandal. This time win three points without any background noise.
“There’s a lot of things that say we’ll play a good game, but that doesn’t automatically mean we’ll win,” said Rapid coach Robert Glass, who will still have to do without Isaac Johnson while Guido Burgstaller could return. in the team. “We are playing at home and we want to win.”
In Austria, the defeat and the events that followed were even more exciting. “We still have a small score,” insisted Aleksandar Dragovic, who was absent in February. Apart from that, the Violets returner has a lot of respect for the home strength of the Rapids. It was his trainer Stephen Helm’s Derby premier. “This is clearly the biggest football game in Austria,” said Burgenlander, who expects a great performance from his team. “We’re on the right track. We want to bring our game to the pitch as much as we can.”
For Sturm, it’s all about defending the league lead after an opening defeat in the Champions League. WAC, third in the table, is unbeaten in three games and makes its guest appearance in Graz. In the past this has often been very embarrassing for the home team. “We have to accept the fight, this energy,” urged WAC coach Dietmar Kuhbauer. His team played one more game and would overtake the leader with a bang.
After all, Ilzer’s team recently won four league games in a row. The most dangerous offense in the league — the WAC already has 15 goals — will have to be countered by a newly formed defense: defensive lineman Gregory Wuthrich will be out for a few weeks with a knee injury. However, Kuhbauer cautioned his team not to rely on a tired opponent. The WAC coach said Sturm will undoubtedly present themselves as a “completely new” team despite the strains of the European Cup.
The Salzburg “Bulls” will also have to compete abroad from 2.30 p.m., namely in Innsbruck at the WSG. After a CL false start with a 3-0 defeat in Prague, coach Pepijn Lijnders issued the slogan: “It’s clear to us that we have to do better and react.” Having won ten of the eleven league duels so far against WSG, the current opposition may be right. “We go into the match as favourites, but that doesn’t mean much. We have to show on the pitch that we are good and we really want to win,” said striker Oscar Kluk.
The opposition coach Filip Semlik sees the possibility of a surprise: “We won’t have many chances to score, as Sparta Prague showed, we have to use them consistently and carefully. Then a game often changes.”
