Under the motto ‘Flagge zeigen’, the Veilchen will welcome champions Sturm Graz to the Generali-Arena on Sunday (5 pm). The match is currently scheduled to take place. By Friday afternoon, 11,500 tickets had been sold. Coach Stephan Helm expects an intense fight and is relaxed about possible caprices: ‘The weather doesn't matter, the opponent does.

Coach Stephan Helm on...

...the upcoming opponent:
‘Sturm have players who can make the difference. They have worked hard in recent years and the team has been continuously strengthened. We have to take away their strengths, and we've prepared for that. Every game has its own story, if we can get the game on our side, anything is possible.’

...the start of the season:
‘In the five Bundesliga rounds so far, we've shown a good face four times in several phases. We've established a good starting position in the first few games and naturally want to keep scoring points. Every week that we train together, we continue to develop. We are in a process. Every game is an opportunity to grow.’

...fine-tuning the defence:
‘It's true that we rarely play to nil. On the other hand, we've already made up for a 0-1 deficit three times. So we're always good for a goal ourselves. We need to sharpen up certain details in defence, and we're all working on that week in, week out. Aleksandar Dragović has integrated really well right from the start and has been very well received, he gives us additional quality. He's a really great fit for the team.’

Captain Manfed Fischer on...

...the upcoming touchstones:
‘The mood in the team is really good, we're looking forward to the upcoming games against Sturm, Rapid and Salzburg. Those are three tough games. But it's in games like these that you can show how far you've come as a team. Maybe we can surprise in one or two of the games, I believe we can. Really cool games await us.’

...Sturm Graz:
‘I've played against Sturm many times. If we want to beat them, everything really has to go right. Above all, we have to stay calm, not get caught up in their hectic pace and certainly not give any balls away. When they generate transition phases, they are really good. We'll be well prepared.’

Squad news

Marko Raguž could get his first Bundesliga minutes against Sturm Graz. Florian Wustinger has already been involved in training, but a call-up would be just as premature as for Johannes Handl. Ziad El Sheiwi and Luca Pazourek are slowly feeling their way back but will still miss some time.