On Sunday (5:00 pm), the Veilchen welcome their eternal rivals to the Generali-Arena for the 346th Vienna derby. Coach Stephan Helm believes his team is ready for a heated match: 'It will be important that we stand up for each other. The belief in ourselves is huge!'

Coach Stephan Helm on ...

... fixing the European Cup place:
'I didn't even realise the fixed EC place myself. I'm constantly in the tunnel myself. I'm focussing on preparing for the opponents. Of course, it's very pleasing that we can tick off our goal at such an early stage. We want to show our best side in the last three games and celebrate as many successes as possible together.'

... the development of his team:
'The team has done a lot of things right in recent weeks. We've become much more flexible over the course of the season. We've also become more unpredictable for our opponents in top matches. It's important that everyone stands up for each other. One person makes up for the mistakes of the other. That's what sets us apart, which is why we're always a force to be reckoned with.'

... on the upcoming opponent:
'Rapid can draw on a lot of individual quality, their squad is really well put together. We are preparing for an opponent who will be on fire. Three weeks ago, we all asked ourselves the question: How will we deal with this mammoth programme? If we had said that we would still be in good shape after the games, probably not everyone would have believed that. The belief in us is huge. We want to make the stadium shake. The home match against Sturm Graz was one of our best games in a long time. We want to repeat that performance.'

Captain Manfred Fischer on ... 

... the upcoming Vienna derby:
'You don't need any extra motivation for the derby. We're already tingling at the start of the week. It's an important game for us. If we perform like we did in the last few games, we'll have a lot of fun again. We want to bring our best game to the pitch, we know where we're coming from. We've always looked from game to game, that won't change in the last three rounds. We are perfectly prepared for Rapid. And we will be perfectly prepared for the WAC. Everyone knows their tasks, you don't have to talk too much or emphasise the importance of the games.'

... the defeat against Red Bull Salzburg:
'Against Salzburg, we wanted to put the attacking pressing at the back and had a deeper block. Nevertheless, we showed that we can create danger and have good transitional moments. We had clear goalscoring opportunities and presented Salzburg with major challenges for 80 minutes. I don't want to hear that this game was bad.'

Squad news  

Apart from the long-term injuries, the coach can draw on a full squad on Sunday.