Defending champions Red Bull Salzburg want to take revenge for their 1-0 home defeat in September in the 19th round of the Bundesliga against promoted team Blau-Weiß Linz on Saturday (5 p.m.). For Vienna Austria, only a home win against SCR Altach counts in the fight for a place among the top six teams in the table. The same applies to the WAC in the home game against WSG Tirol.
Blau-Weiß Linz has already been a stumbling block for Salzburg. On September 23, 2023, the 0-1 home win marked Salzburg’s first league defeat after 37 unbeaten games. It remains to be seen whether Linz can end the Bulls’ long away streak. Salzburg has not lost away from home in the championship 24 times, which is a record in league history. The big goal is to further expand this, and the motivation is even greater thanks to the slip-up in the direct duel in Wals-Siezenheim.
“For us on Saturday in Linz we have to build on the strong performance from the last home game against Sturm, but also reward ourselves for it at the end,” said Salzburg coach Gerhard Struber. Meanwhile, BW coach Gerald Scheiblehner expected an “incredibly dominant” opponent. “But we have a clear plan. You can’t set any limits in a game. We can achieve something with the energy of the fans,” said Scheiblehner.
For Vienna Austria, only victories count in the race for a place in the top six of the Bundesliga. After the successful start to the spring against Hartberg, Altach will be visiting Vienna-Favoriten on Saturday. Anything other than a threesome against Vorarlberg would be a disappointment for the home team. The Austrians experienced something like this in the first duel of the season in the “Ländle”: at the end of September, Altach won 2-1 at home.
Michael Wimmer therefore expected “a brutally tough nut to crack” for his protégés. The Austria coach prepared for a low-lying opponent. Austria, which is seventh in the table and relies on points, will have to find offensive solutions in order to be able to crack the expected Altach defense bar. For their part, according to coach Joachim Standfest, the Vorarlbergers “don’t just want to play defensively”.
Like Austria, the WAC is also worried about taking part in the championship group. The eighth in the table is four points behind the targeted top six with four remaining games against opponents, some of whom are higher ranked. A home win is almost mandatory against table laggards WSG Tirol.
“Saturday is the delivery time, of course the pressure has increased. But a win against the WSG and the cards in the championship group race have been reshuffled again,” said WAC coach Manfred Schmid to the APA. Also in the knowledge that the difficult courses to Linz and Graz will follow. Only at the end of the regular season, when Altach comes to Wolfsberg, are the Carinthians favorites again.
Wattens, meanwhile, bounced off bottom team Lustenau’s wall tactics at the start of the spring (0:2). Coach Thomas Silberberger now spoke of an increased pressure situation. “Of course the pressure is greater because we put it on ourselves. We want to dock with Blau-Weiß Linz and Altach.” The aforementioned competition is seven or six points ahead. Silberberger expected the WAC to be pretty sweet. “We know that the WAC probably has one of the last chances to get into the championship play-offs.”
2024-02-16 22:31:41
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