German Bundesliga: Salzburg and LASK on the test bench

Internationally, things went as intended for Salzburg. A 1-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League made the Bulls dream of reaching the last 16 again, with at least the European Cup winter in hand. In the league, however, the series champions let the reins slip a little, and a two-to-one 1-1 at home against Rapid and LASK made the lead over number one stalker Puntigamer Sturm Graz melt into two points.

“It is a definite challenge to have the match against Altaş between the two Champions League matches against Zagreb,” coach Matthias Gisele admitted, but also clarified: “This should not and will not be an excuse. The team has already shown that they can always refocus on the next task.” Looking at Zagreb’s second home game on Tuesday, Gisl’s thoughts revolved around at least rotating individuals.

“Get the freshness needed on the field”

“It will be important that we get the necessary freshness on the field – physically, but also mentally. That’s why there can be some changes.” One of the ‘newcomers’ could be midfielder Lucas Gorna-Duath, who, at €13m, is the most expensive purchase in Bundesliga history. “We must completely focus on this match and not think about the future because we do not want any unpleasant surprises,” stressed the 19-year-old, who has made three consecutive league appearances in the starting lineup.

In any case, Salzburg cannot afford to slip, and at worst there is a risk of falling back to second in the table behind Sturm Graz, who welcomes WSG Tyrol on Sunday (2.30pm). In any case, the Altachers will not give up without a fight, especially since the eleven players of Miroslav Klose hope for the next liberation after the first “triple” after almost two months. Altach got some breathing room with a 3:2 in the basement derby against SV Ried last weekend, and the situation eased up a bit.

“The team trained with a lot more freedom, they got that agility again,” said SCR coach Klose. After the obligatory win, the bonus game awaits. Klose explained, “In our case, I’d say it’s a bonus, but I call it a dessert. Every point against Salzburg is a treat.” Dessert is a far cry from eating it, but Klose thinks it’s entirely possible: “If we can take the momentum from Reed with us, why then?” Wouldn’t that be possible, especially at home to be surprised?”

LASK fights negative range

Meanwhile, LASK would like to end the month-long drought against Hartburg without a win and continue the performance that last brought champion Salzburg to the brink of defeat. Things haven’t gone according to plan against the “smaller” clubs recently. In September, Linz had to settle by just two points against Reed (1-1), Lustenau (1-1) and WSG Tyrol (1-4). .

It must be checked. “We don’t get the number of points against smaller players, it is often more difficult against smaller players. Coach Dietmar Koebauer, who wants to focus on the 1-1 draw against Salzburg last weekend, confirmed when his team conceded the equalizer in the 96th minute, “but My team has character.”

“Hopefully we can pick up where we left off last week. That was an incredibly good match. Hartberg is a completely different game, we’re aware of that, but if we get into that attitude and passion, the game can turn in our favour,” Kohbauer said. “We will have more possession, and I hope we can achieve that in the final third. The team is on the right track and has shown that we can play football very well.”

Hartberg is always hard to break

But athletes beware, the inhabitants of eastern Styria have proven difficult to break. Last season, there were three draws and one defeat against Hartburg, and LASK scored the last three points against the current penultimate table in June 2020. The penultimate Sterian team is only two points behind bottom club Reed, the last of which has been three consecutive defeats.

However, coach Klaus Schmidt believes in a sense of accomplishment. The 54-year-old said he wanted to take “something that could count” home from Easter. “We have prepared very well for our opponents in the past few days. I hope the work pays off and that we can finally start writing again.”

Klagenfurt with a strong chain away

In Klagenfurt there is a duel between Austria from Lustenau and Klagenfurt and thus a meeting between the two emerging teams over the past two years. The Carinthians could celebrate three consecutive victories for the first time in their history, but they exercised restraint beforehand. “We want to turn our current guest streak (three wins in a row, note) into a home win, but we have to be careful. We know how strong they are on the counter,” said Austria coach Peter Baccault.

Klagenfurt pulled away in Altach (4:1) and Hartberg (3:2) twice. Before that, Hartberg (4:3) left the field as the winner. In between, there was a home defeat against Sturm Graz (0:2). Bacolt certainly recognized “the similarities between us last year and Austria Lustenau now. We also started with a sense of accomplishment, and then you get momentum. They’ve done a good job so far.”

Lustenau’s engine starts to falter

However, Lustenau’s drive has faltered by just two points from his last five matches. But this was also due to opponents. With Salzburg, Wiener Austria, LASK, Sturm Graz and Wydad, they were the five most successful players at the moment. After a good start to the season, Lustenau slipped from third to eighth. However, Klagenfurt goalkeeper Markus Pink warned: “It would be a big mistake if we took it lightly.”

Lustenau coach Marcos Mader also doesn’t want to know anything about a small crisis. “Now the opponents are on par, where you can score points provided everything fits in with us. We are still growing and we know where we come from.” “Definitely progress in terms of performance,” he said, but you have to keep working hard.

For example, the fact that Matthias Maak and Co has only fallen behind once in the previous 10 games by 0:1. “We have to try to move the game in our direction. If we can take the initiative ourselves, there will be space that we can use then,” Mader confirmed.