Friday morning, the Violets who started in the 0-0 draw against Hapoel Be'er Scheva had to regenerate in the Generali-Arena's weight room. All the other Austrian players had a substitute training session outside on the pitch. A little more than twelve hours after the final whistle of the first group match, the full focus is already on the important Bundesliga match in Hartberg:

"The focus now is on regeneration. It is crucial that we are physically and mentally on point on Sunday in Hartberg," emphasises coach Manfred Schmid.

Hartberg picked up four points in their last two games against Ried (2:0) and Sturm Graz (0:0), coach Klaus Schmidt's team is one point ahead of Austria in eighth place:

"Hartberg recently got a point with a strong performance against Sturm Graz when they were outnumbered. They are very good defensively and have a dangerous switching game with a lot of pace, so we have to watch out for that. But one thing is clear: we want to play our football," Manfred Schmid explains.

The performance on the European stage in the first group match against Hapoel Be'er Scheva gives us tailwind for the championship: "Unfortunately, it was not enough to win. But we will take a lot of positive energy with us to Hartberg, because we saw that we can hold our own against an internationally experienced opponent," said the Austria coach.

The Violets will continue with another training session in Vienna-Favoriten on Saturday, before they leave for Styria in the afternoon. There is no news regarding the players: "We will regenerate well and then decide who will play on Sunday," Manfred Schmid said.