Austria Wien has been unbeaten for six games in a row, most recently Patrick Pentz and Co. lost 2022 points in the 1-1 draw against Rapid for the first time. They want to continue this series against Klagenfurt. Coach Manfred Schmid is also back after his coronavirus infection and is highly motivated. Schmid is eager to return to the sidelines, where assistant Cem Sekerlioglu stood in the derby. Despite twelve team players being absent, the international break was “very intense”, Schmid stated. “The players push themselves,” said the 51-year-old.
The past few days have also been intense for sports director Manuel Ortlechner, who, among other things, signed striker Haris Tabakovic from Austria Lustenau for the summer and continued the young path of Austria with the contract extensions of Can Keles, Dario Kreiker, Florian Wustinger and Dominik Fitz. “The fans are fully involved, they identify with our path,” said Schmid, considering around 10,000 tickets had already been sold on Friday.
Sturm Graz wants to defend second place
As part of the games of the championship round in the Bundesliga, there is also a “pack derby”. Puntigammer Sturm Graz has to go to RZ Pellets WAC in Wolfsberg. It’s about defending second place in the table, and Grazer are counting on Jakob Jantscher in particular.
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Schmid exuded self-confidence. “I think we’re going into this game as favorites and we want to continue the streak,” he said. “We really want to win, but to say it’s a must-win would be disrespectful. A very unpleasant opponent to play against. And we haven’t won against them that often,” said Schmid. Both games ended in a draw this season, 1-1 in the Generali Arena and 0-0 in Klagenfurt.
