On Sunday afternoon (5:00 pm), the Violets will face their Hütteldorf city rivals away from home in the 345th Vienna derby. With a win, Austria could extend their lead over Rapid to 13 points. Coach Stephan Helm can call on the entire squad: ‘We have the whole stadium against us. But we will be travelling with a broad chest. This game will be a huge opportunity for us.’

CEO sports Jürgen Werner on ...

... the 0-0 draw against WAC:
‘I saw a clear reaction, the team didn't concede much. We are level on points with the league leaders with eight rounds to go and have only lost one game in the last 18 rounds. I have every confidence in the coaching team and the squad that we can stay up there until the end.’ 

... the league finish:
‘This table situation is new territory for us. After 24 rounds, the table no longer lies. After the cup exit, the fans celebrated us because they have a keen sense of whether the team is fully committed. We now want to play at the top for as long as possible. Of course it hurts to share the points this year, but we have to deal with it.’ 

... the upcoming squad planning:
‘Harald Zagiczek and Alexander Korinek managed to get us the licence with ease. We're proud of that. We don't want to be a one-hit wonder and just have a quick sniff at the top. When I took office, I said that we would need 4.5 years to be in the top flight. Of the players we brought in during the summer, seven or eight have become regulars. At least we won't be making any major changes in the summer. We want to continue to strengthen the team. We are currently working on this in close co-operation with the finance department. We have until May to finalise the options for our loan players. We are in good talks with Bayern Munich regarding Matteo Pérez Vinlöf. The aim is to keep all loan players. All processes are running shoulder to shoulder. Finance department, sports management, coaching team. It's fun to be Veilchen right now.’ 

... the advantages of the tough start to the season: 
‘It was a tough three and a half years. It was a permanent emergency case. In the summer, we took a lot into our own hands, signed eight new players and welcomed a new coaching team. Of course, we would have liked to win against Ilves Tampere. But the elimination allowed the team to grow together. After the opening defeat against Blau Weiß Linz, pretty much everyone wanted to get rid of the coaching team. We didn't let ourselves get rattled, even though we naturally had some tough discussions internally. We have learnt a lot from this and are rightly where we are today.’

... the fast pace and the long term: 
‘The coach has to have the next weekend in mind, the sports director the season and the sports director the next three years. The entire club is becoming more and more successful. Our women's team is in the cup final, and stays in second place, we are first in the U16s and first in the U18s. The overall development of the club - including financially - is good. We're selling out almost every game, have the best membership figures since the club was founded and the subscription figures are high. We're on the right track, you can't pin everything on one result - if you're at the top, sponsors will also be interested in you. We want to increase the budget for the players in order to keep up. Austria Wien, with its history and the city of Vienna in the background, must always play at the top. We want to experience great European Cup evenings again. That must be possible.’ 

Coach Stephan Helm on ... 

... the upcoming derby: 
‘We can call on the entire squad. The derby is one of the games we've been working towards all year. We're travelling with a broad chest and have a lot of self-confidence. In the last two games, the spaces in the attacking third were very tight. Rapid want to do something for the game. That's why the game will have more facets than last time. They will present us with different challenges. The fans carried us to victory in the first leg. Now we have the whole stadium against us. It will be a challenge.’ 

... the preparation for Rapid: 
‘I was very happy for Guido Burgstaller that he was able to celebrate his comeback (against Djurgardens IF, ed.). They put in a great performance in the European Cup. My job is to watch what they do and how they do it. That's how we prepare for the opponent. We'll come up against a well-organised opponent with a lot of individual class. But I have the feeling that this game could be a huge opportunity for us.’

... the reduction of Aleksandar Dragović's suspension: 
‘We have defensive stability even without Drago, as we saw against WAC. We have huge quality at the back. But Drago adds another factor to our game. He has no criminal record and has had a great career. I think his integrity was taken into account in the judgement, so of course we're happy about that. He was involved in training all week despite the lack of judgement.’  .

... the reporting after the Cup exit: 
‘The public almost always only focuses on the final result. We as a team are focussing on the longer process. This battle for the championship is extremely good for the attractiveness of Austrian football. We as a team can only grow through a finish like this.’