Bundesliga LIVE: SK Austria Klagenfurt – SV Ried, 21st round

Only three points left and then it would be clear: Austria Klagenfurt is in the top six in the second phase of the Bundesliga championship.

The fourth-placed climber receives on Sunday (5:00 p.m. in the LIVE-Ticker) the SV Ried and would fix the qualification for the master group with a win. “The starting position shouldn’t put us under pressure, but trigger positive energy,” says coach Peter Pacult. But the Upper Austrians also want success.

Before the 21st round, Klagenfurt is already four points ahead of the seventh Rapid, Ried is two points ahead of the Viennese. Even the current eighth LASK could no longer intercept the Carinthians if they succeed against Ried.

“We’ve worked hard for our chance of winning the championship group over the past few months, and we’re really looking forward to the game, even if we have personnel problems,” Pacult clarifies. “If we can do it, it would be a huge sensation, if we don’t, nobody will be angry, but I’m not even thinking about that.”

Klagenfurt hospital is slowly clearing

In any case, the form curve of the Klagenfurt team is constant with only one defeat in the past seven rounds (against Sturm Graz) and is above those of most of their competitors. Four of those games were won, including the highlight event on November 27 with a 2-1 win against Red Bull Salzburg.

And the balance sheet reads even more remarkable when you consider the fact that Pacult was recently unavailable for almost a dozen players. There is only limited relaxation before the duel with Ried, after all Patrick Greil and goalkeeper Phillip Menzel were back in training.

In addition, Turgay Gemicibasi, who was recently suspended, is returning. “My team has dealt with pressure situations in the past without worrying and has dealt with failures brilliantly,” Pacult is not worried.

Ried: “Will need a good plan”

Ried recently won at home against WSG 3:2. After Austria from Klagenfurt, the Innviertlers had to deal with Sturm Graz in the 22nd round in their own stadium, which is why they would like to spare themselves the pressure situation at the end. In between, it’s in the cup semi-final against Hartberg.

“We’ll need a good plan, it won’t be easy. But we definitely want to get three points. That would be a big step towards the championship group again,” defender Luca Meisl clarifies before the trip to Wörthersee.

The memory of the most recent duel is still vivid: Ried won 2-0 at home in the quarter-finals of the cup three weeks ago. “Klagenfurt will have analyzed the cup game against us in detail. You could see in the last few games that they changed one or the other,” said coach Robert Ibertsberger when asked about it.

Pacult: “It’s a shame I wasn’t an issue for years”

“In the cup we didn’t get to the level of autumn, even if the second half was great,” notes Pacult. “Perhaps Ried has the Cup semifinals on Wednesday in mind.”

The Viennese emphasized that his club could plan for the next season by reaching the championship group “as early as Monday”, which would be “a huge relief”. The ex-team striker and so far the last Rapid master coach would not feel any personal satisfaction.

“It’s just a shame that I wasn’t an issue in Austria for years,” emphasizes the 62-year-old. “It was just incomprehensible to me that suddenly you are not an issue, even though you have trained in the German Bundesliga and become champions with Rapid. I can only thank those responsible at Austria Klagenfurt for having the courage to do this way to go.”

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