Among the highlights of the European Cup, the blue and white awaits the Rapid

Gerald Schieblehner saw Hoteldorfer 5-0 in Debrecen “A very good game from Rapid, the team is in good shape,” said the blue and white coach before the sold-out Bundesliga match against the record champions. “They come in very confident and want to make up for Hartberg’s poor game and sit at the top of the table.” His team had no chance in the derby match against LASK (0:2). “I don’t want to keep saying we’re gaining experience, in the end it’s about winning games.” For the win over Rapid, the Grapes were hanging high. “We go into the game as underdogs but we will do everything we can to win the game.”

In Rapid, Debrecen’s “magnificent” 5-0 win on Friday afternoon was above all else. “I’m free, I’m a killer, we’re all very happy,” said Zoran Barisic after returning from the successful Congress League qualifiers. The reward for that is now a major duel with last year’s finalists Fiorentina. The first leg will be played in Vienna on Thursday. In the sandwich of two European Cup matches, the guest appearance in Linz could be “difficult on the one hand. But on the other hand, the rise should give us a lot of momentum,” said Barisic.

In the first duel since 2016 in the UEFA Cup (4: 0 rapid), the blue and white will lead a “high intensity” onto the field, “attacking us aggressively and forcing a quick substitution,” the Rapid coach predicted. “It will be important that we go to zero. In the championship everyone is pitted against Rapid twice, three times and four times for a highlight match. We have to be mentally prepared,” demanded Barisic to prevent the outsider from having the “week off” that was to follow it otherwise. Along with Matthias Seidel and Vale Maiolo, there are two Rapid players who played for the Blue Weiss team last season. Of the ailing duo of Patrick Grill and Nicolas Kon, the latter should be more fit, but according to Barisic, if the worst comes to the worst, he won’t be in the starting line-up. Otherwise, the speed trainer did not notice any new “little ailments”.

It will also be exciting duel between Vienna Austria and the WAC at home. Austria licking its wounds after the bitter end in the European Cup. The crazy finish at 3:5 against Legia Warsaw cost the nerves of coach Michael Wimmer and his pupils a lot of strength. “It’s important to keep your heads up, address the negatives and improve upon them,” Wimmer said. “We have to forget the game and focus on Sunday at full speed so we can get our points in the league,” said Dominic Fitz.

For WAC coach Manfred Schmid, it’s an emotional return to an old workplace. In the WAC’s last away appearance at Favoriten, the Viennese were still on the bench for the home side. The 0-1 draw against Austria in mid-November last year was Schmid’s last draw as coach of his team for a long time. “Of course, this is a very special match for me,” Schmid said. “It didn’t happen often that I played against Austria.”

Carinthians are unbeaten after three rounds in a still young season, and Austria are aiming for a second win in their duel against direct rivals for sixth place after a rocky start. That’s why Austria coach Wimmer spoke of “a very important match. We need all the energy to be able to perform well.” That may be answered with a longer injury list, and defenseman Marvin Martins is suspended.

In game three on Sunday, the turns couldn’t be clearer: Red Bull Salzburg are TSV Hartberg favorites despite a long list of injuries. The series champions have never lost to the Styrians in the Bundesliga, there have been eleven wins in twelve duels, including eight in a row. If there is another match unbeaten run, Salzburg will raise their league record to 34 matches. All three matches of the season so far have been won.

Salzburg coach Gerhard Struber expressed optimism about the first leg, “We started the season very well and everything looks fine.” After Altach (2:0) and WSG Tirol (3:0), Vienna Austria (2:0) has recently been put in place without conceding a single goal. “We want to go into the game with a lot of strength. But we also know it won’t be an easy game for us. Hartberg is so far unbeaten and recently won in Rapid. So we have a lot of us ahead of us “the Salzburg player calculates with great resistance.

In fact, the Hartburgers, still undefeated after three rounds, made a clear showing with a 1-0 victory over Rapid. “We take the results with us and we are happy that we have the points, but we also know that we still have a lot of room for improvement and we can do a lot better,” said Hartberg coach Marcus Schupp. To be able to evolve further, the duel with the defending hero is “very good”. You want to show a good face and sell yourself as expensive as possible. And at best, you can also take the points with you at the end.