"Derby will release energy"

Name: FK Austria Wien
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On Sunday at 17:00 the away derby is on the agenda, the Veilchen are guests in Hütteldorf. The Austria sector has been sold out since the beginning of the week for the first time since the opening of the Allianz Stadium, where the Veilchen are still unbeaten after six years. The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sport Austria and ORF 1, and the Viola Sportsbar will also be open from 15:00.

GEPA

On Friday morning, the Violets completed a regeneration training in Valencia before the team and the staff started their return journey to Vienna and landed punctually at 15:55 in Vienna-Schwechat. On Saturday morning, Manfred Schmid will assemble his team for the final training for the Vienna derby at the Generali-Arena.

"I already sat down with my coaching team this morning to analyse the Villarreal game. We played bravely, in the end it was simply a difference in class. It's clear that we're conceding too many goals at the moment and that we need to do better defensively as a team. Until Sunday, we have to regenerate in the best possible way. The derby comes just in time to get back on our feet. The derby will release energy," says coach Manfred Schmid.

The sensational support of the 650 Austria fans, who created a unique atmosphere for 90 minutes in the Estadio Ciutat de València, will certainly be remembered from the away trip in Valencia: "I think I heard almost only our fans in the stadium. I can only say thank you, the support of our fans is simply incredible. Thank you very much for that," emphasised coach Manfred Schmid.

Friendly exchange of scarves

In the fan camp, the encounter in Valencia was marked by mutual respect & great hospitality on the part of the Spaniards. Friendly scenes could already be seen during the match, when the Austria fans joined in the "wave" in the stadium and then exchanged scarves with the Villarreal fans. The Spanish supporters then chanted "Austria Wien" and applauded our team. The two fan camps said goodbye to each other with friendly handshakes. On Thursday evening and Friday morning, Austria received countless positive feedbacks from Spaniards about the behaviour of the Austria fans on social media.

The positive and respectful behaviour of the fans also left an impression on Manfred Schmid: "Our fans are simply fantastic. What we experienced yesterday was very positive, we can only congratulate them - that's nice for football, that's how it should be."

High importance of the Vienna derby

Sunday is also marked in purple on the calendar of all Austrian players, as the next big highlight is the Vienna derby in Hütteldorf: "The derby is very important, it will be a really cool game in front of a sold-out crowd. I'm really looking forward to it, we'll do everything to win this game and continue our unbeaten streak in their stadium," emphasised Schmid.

Personnel news

Andreas Gruber dropped out at short notice in Valencia on Thursday due to illness after feeling sick since the beginning of the week, but he hopes to make a derby appearance. Matan Baltaxa will make his debut in purple for the Young Violets on Friday evening. Marvin Martins (adductor complaint) trained individually in Vienna in the last few days and is also questionable for Sunday. Nikola Dovedan is not eligible to play in the group stage of the Conference League, but is ready for the derby.