“Top-level teamwork—or it’s not enough”

Following two 1-3 losses to FC Red Bull Salzburg on Sunday and Wednesday, the Violets are traveling to Graz this weekend to try to get back on track against the league leaders: “We have to face reality and acknowledge that we can only score points in the championship group if we perform at the highest level as a team—if we can’t do that for 90 minutes, it simply won’t be enough to take home points. Our motivation is to make that happen on Sunday,” says coach Stephan Helm.

In both matches against Salzburg, Austria conceded early goals and found themselves down 0-2 before the half-hour mark in each game: “It’s quite clear that we need to keep a clean sheet longer in these games so we can get on the scoreboard—that’s why that’s also our motto against Sturm. We’ve also learned from the two games against Salzburg that we can hold our own for long stretches and are capable of scoring in every game,” explains Stephan Helm.

Sturm Graz is the only team still undefeated in the championship group and remains at the top of the table following two draws against LASK. The Violets have won two of their three matches against Sturm so far this season. Even in the 2-5 loss at the start of the championship group in Vienna-Favoriten, Austria could have been leading at halftime due to their clear advantage in chances:

“The fact is that we’ve always performed well against Sturm this season and were unlucky to let the home game slip away at the start of the championship round. We need to be prepared for plenty of one-on-one duels and battles for second balls in Graz,” explains the Austria coach. 

Team News

Johannes Eggestein and Abu Barry remain questionable. There is hope that both key players will be able to return to the squad. After the final training session on Saturday afternoon, a decision will be made as to whether they will board the team bus to Graz.