Helm: "We can beat any opponent in the league!"

Derby time in Vienna! On Sunday at 5 p.m., the Generali Arena will host the 348th meeting between Vienna's two traditional clubs. With 15,600 tickets sold, the stadium has been completely sold out for days. Stephan Helm and Aleks Dragović answered questions from the media on Friday.

Head coach Stephan Helm on ...

... the training week:
"We quickly put our opening win against Salzburg behind us and focused on the derby from Sunday onwards. The training week was intense, everyone gave it their all. It will be important to reach our performance limit. That way we can beat any opponent."

... the opponents from Hütteldorf: 
"Experience makes you better, especially in the coaching business. I can benefit from that. A derby has enormous potential to represent the level of the Austrian league. Everyone wants to show their best side. Rapid have already played two public matches under Johannes Hoff Thorup. It would be more problematic for us if it were the very first match under the new coach. As it is, we are well informed. Nevertheless, derbies are usually disconnected from the current situation at the club."

... the opponent's new playing style: 
"Hoff Thorup comes from a 4-3-3 system. But it's not the formation that matters, it's the different constellations that arise from it. The important thing will be how we adapt to these constellations. They have very clear patterns in their play. We want to be flexible enough to respond to that; that's modern football."

... the individual class of his team: 
"We have enough players with all-round qualities: Mandi Fischer, Abu Barry, Sanel Saljić and Jojo Eggestein. With Kelvin Boateng, we have someone who also brings something special to the table. We will be a bit more unpredictable again. With Jo Handl and Philipp Wiesinger, we have two defensive players back who are very strong in the air and on the ground. I will find the best line-up after consulting with the coaching team."

Aleksandar Dragović on ...  

... the irrelevance of form:
"We know how important this game is for our fans. But we have to be extremely careful against Rapid, who are struggling. Last season, when we were favourites, we lost. In the autumn, they lost as favourites at the Allianz Stadium. We know their strengths and weaknesses and, as always, we will try to give our all for 90 minutes."

... the Hütteldorf team's style of play:
"Rapid now plays a different system, 4-3-3. We tested this in our preparation against Nordsjælland, where Hoff Thorup worked for a long time. Maybe this test was quite good for us. But we're focusing on our strengths. If we play as well as we did against Salzburg, then I'm confident we'll celebrate a victory."

... the rules of the derby: 
"If we leave the pitch as winners after 90 minutes, I don't care how we played before that. You don't play a derby, you win it. That's how we'll approach the game on Sunday. We want to win this game together with the fans!"