The winter break is short, preparation is approaching: seven Bundesliga teams on the Turkish Riviera.
The European Championship year leaves Austria Bundesliga professionals will return to the lawn shortly after the turn of the year this year. A month before the start of the 2024 competitive game with the games in the ÖFB Cup quarter-finals (February 2nd to 4th), the first division coaches are ordering their protégés back from vacation in the days around Epiphany. With a view to the opening hit of the league between Salzburg and Storm Graz the attunement is particularly important for the top duo.
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Christian Ilzer has devised a special preparation. Sturm has booked two short training camps in Catez, Slovenia, and a longer stay in Belek, Turkey. A test match on Austrian soil is not planned for the Styrians. The start of the new year is tough for Sturm. After the Cup quarter-final at home against Vienna Austria (2.2), the away appearance against champions Salzburg is on the agenda on February 9th (8:30 p.m.). The defending champion goes into the 18th round with a two-point lead over his first pursuer.
In the intermediate round of the Conference League, Sturm will face Slovan Bratislava on February 15th and 22nd. The Graz team is the only Austrian representative to winter in the European Cup this year. Sturm sees himself in the transfer sector after his regular goalkeeper’s cruciate ligament operation Kjell Scherpen for a new goalkeeper. A loan deal for six months is being considered. In terms of departures closed Andreas Schicker nothing matters. “But our goal is to go into the spring season with the tribe. It is possible that we will loan out players who don’t get enough match practice,” said Sturm’s sports director.
Salzburg will no longer have an international presence in the spring. After an autumn with major injury problems and fluctuating expectations after the Champions League appearances, the series champion can focus on national events. “We will try to set the tone more clearly in the Bundesliga and Cup in the spring than was the case in the last few weeks,” said the coach Gerhard Struber after the European Cup exit. After a ten-day training camp in Marbella, the Polish first division club Slask Wroclaw is the final benchmark. It remains to be seen whether Struber’s wish for a largely unchanged squad will be fulfilled.
In Belek and neighboring Side, several Bundesliga teams will once again join hands in January. In addition to the storm, there are also the LASK, Rapid, Blau-Weiß Linz, Altach, WSG Tirol and Austria Lustenau quartered on the Turkish Riviera. The surprise fourth Hartberg is now back in Slovenia (Catez, Moravske Toplice), Austria Klagenfurt is a guest in Sibenik, Croatia. It moves further south Wolfsberger ACwho is staying in Alicante, and the Wiener Austriawhich flies to Malta.
At Rapid it works Robert Klauss in his first preparation with the Green and Whites. The biggest personnel question mark of the last few weeks is Marco Grüll. The offensive player’s contract expires in June, and as things stand, Rapid can only obtain a transfer fee in the winter transfer window. This closes in Austria on February 6th, in Germany, England or Italy it ends on February 1st.
In the West takes Andreas Heref the work on. Austria Lustenau only scored three points in 17 rounds. The fact that the native of Vienna led SV Ried to relegation three years ago was a point in his appointment as the new Austria coach. Heraf spoke of a “big challenge”, but he was “100 percent” convinced that he would stay in the league.
2023-12-29 09:42:50
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