Offensive WAC wants to steal points from Sturm

After the opening defeat in the Champions League, Sturm Graz aims to defend their lead in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga.

Wydad Casablanca, third in the standings and unbeaten in three league games, will be the guests in Graz on Sunday (from 2:30 p.m. in the live stream >>>). This has often been very uncomfortable for the home team in the past. “We have to accept the fight, this energy,” said Wydad Casablanca coach Dietmar Kubauer.

His team has played another match and will beat the leader with great feeling. The guest will also be ahead in Graz's head-to-head record.

Both teams currently have eleven wins each, and there has never been a points split between the two in the league's history in the Styrian capital.

Wüthrich misses Sturm

After the defeat in the opening match of the Champions League against Brest (1:2), the champions had planned strongly to win the “package duel”. Elzer's team recently won four matches in a row in the league.

The league's most dangerous attack – Wydad Casablanca have already scored 15 goals – will have to be countered by a newly formed defence. Gregory Wuthrich, the leader of the defensive line, will be out for a few weeks with a knee injury.

Kubauer said Wüthrich's value was clear and wished the player a speedy recovery. The Wydad Casablanca coach said Sturm would undoubtedly present himself as a “completely new” team despite the pressure of the European Cup.

“If someone thinks they have to say something different, that's simply not true. They've never played before, and they'll do it without any problems. The game against Austria on Wednesday won't be a problem either.”

Copower is excited for the storm.

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Kubauer claims to have recognised a return to Graz's roots in the game. “At the beginning of the season they tried more with positional play. I think they have now returned to their old style of play, which has brought them a lot of success,” said Kubauer, who has been full of praise for the opposition.

“Considering that Salzburg still exists, three titles in the last two years is a huge achievement,” he added.

Kubauer sees Graz's intense style of play as a national standard, even if the Brest game showed that duel management and energy are different at international level.

offensively disgusting, defensively disgusting

His team is in good form in attack, but has conceded ten goals so far. Only LASK and GAK have had to endure more. “I would rather win 3:2 than 1:0,” said Kubauer. “The balance in the team is very good at the moment.”

In this regard, Erwin Omic, an important building block, will be absent. “Against Sturm, you just need fit players,” Kubauer stressed.

“You can't play comfortably against them, you always have to be there on time.” That worked brilliantly in the 5-1 win over LASK, but it was less good in Vienna against Austria (1:3) and in Altach (0:2).

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