“Take that positive feeling back to Hartberg”

“The Bundesliga is our most important competition, and we’re now determined to celebrate a victory there,” emphasises manager Stephan Helm, whose team are still without any points after two rounds following defeats against WAC and LASK.

On Friday morning, the players who had featured in the European Cup match the previous night took part in a recovery session. Those who played only briefly or not at all headed out onto the training pitch. On Saturday afternoon, the Veilchen will train once more in Vienna’s Favoriten district before setting off for Hartberg:

“During back-to-back fixtures, you have to approach preparation for the opposition slightly differently than usual. We’re relying more on video analysis because we simply have less time available on the pitch. We’ll go into the match well prepared and want to carry the positive momentum from the European Cup with us,” explains Stephan Helm.

“If you look at how the other Israeli clubs are performing in the European Cup, it underlines that Beitar Jerusalem were a really tough opponent. But we’ve shown what’s possible when every single player is willing to give their all on the pitch for 120 minutes. We need that same mentality in Hartberg too,” says the Austria coach.

ECHT. AUSTRIA.

It was once again remarkable how many young home-grown players from the Austria Academy featured in the European Cup. Daniel Nnodim (18), Vasilije Marković (18) and Philipp Maybach (18) were all in the starting line-up. Sanel Šaljić (20), Hasan Deshishku (18) and Florian Wustinger (23) came on as substitutes. With Jonas Feddersen (19) and Matteo Schablas (21), two further very young players started the match.

“The whole club benefits from our young players gaining such important experience. We also have a clear commitment in the dressing room to see this path through as a team with conviction. Finding the right balance is important – the youngsters can develop very well alongside experienced players such as Dragović, Fischer and Ranftl,” explains Stephan Helm.

Opponents Hartberg

Markus Schopp, a familiar face, returned to the Hartberg dugout this summer. The Styrian side faced FC Red Bull Salzburg (0–1) and Sturm Graz (0–2) in their first two matches and are still without any points: “Hartberg did well in their first two matches against strong opponents. Markus Schopp has a very clear vision of what his football looks like. He has proven time and again in the past that he can implement this successfully – I have great respect for him as a manager.”