‘Everything has to fit together’

“For us, it’s a huge challenge that we’re determined to take on. We believe there’s still a chance. We’ve put together a solid plan for how we’ll try to pry open that narrow window of opportunity to reach the league stage. It’s a special match to have such a strong club visiting us here. Everything simply has to click: this time, we need to turn the game in our favour and make the most of the small opportunities that arise,” says manager Stephan Helm.

In the first leg, SC Braga took a 1–0 lead in the 25th minute through a penalty from Pau Víctor. In the second half, the Veilchen had several chances to equalise, the best of which was a shot from Manfred Fischer that hit the crossbar. Rodrigues’ goal in the 88th minute, making it 2–0, made the task for the return leg in Vienna’s Favoriten district considerably more difficult.

“There was a great atmosphere in Braga. We closed down the spaces and made our mark in attack. I think we put in a decent performance, but we can still improve and be a touch more dangerous up front. We know it’s going to be a difficult match,” says striker Johannes Eggestein, who himself posed a goal threat in the first half with two strong long-range shots.

Both SC Braga and Austria postponed their league matches last weekend due to the play-offs. The Veilchen’s home match against WSG Tirol will now take place on Wednesday 2 September at 6.30 pm.

“A full week of training is particularly beneficial when facing such a strong opponent – it allows us to prepare tactically with a specific focus on the opposition. I think our performances this season – apart from the WAC match – have been decent. We already showed a marked improvement in our performance against LASK, though we were unlucky on the day. In the 2–0 win against Hartberg, we put in a decent performance. I think we’ve already proven last season that – when we defend compactly as a team – we always create chances in attack and become a threat in front of goal,” explains Eggestein.

Squad update

Ibrahim Buhari has suffered a fracture to a metacarpal bone and will be out of action. Jonas Feddersen is a doubt due to illness. Otherwise, Philipp Wiesinger – who, at best, will be able to rejoin team training in a few weeks – is absent, as are the long-term injured players Noah Botić and Manprit Sarkaria.